Also here i am wondering a little bit... - Stena Line is "going east" and starting the next new route. Normally i am always happy if any ferry-company starts with any new route. But in this case the both ferries are the oldest, slowiest and smallest with ca. 40 years (!) and there is the risk now that they take some/many freight-customers with dumping-prices from the other ferry-companies which has especially between Sweden-Finland very comfortable ferries (Viking Line, Tallink etc.). But Viking and Tallink need a good mix of Pax and freight for to offer a high comfort-level for Pax also in the longterm-future. If "low-level-freighters" like DFDS and Stena take here more and more of the lucrative freight-costumers it will be more and more difficult for Viking and Tallink to get enough money for big expensive newbuildings with high comfort-level. On Swedens westcoast is already a very poor level with very old poor slowly ferries, not much better on the southcoast... . And now Stena is attacking massive Tallink to Lettland and Silja-Tallink and Viking to Finland... . And in the next years the URD and GOTHICA will replaced with bigger Visentinis (coming back from charter) and these will replaced in 10 years with the more bigger E-Flexers, then coming back from charter. But a E-Flexer has nothing to do with the very high comfort-level of Silja Serenade or Viking Glory f.ex. . Here was already a high competition also with Finnlines and now Stena is the 5. big company which offer Sweden-Finland.
The problem is generally that in areas where is Stena operating with big freighters like f.ex. to the british-east-coast (like STENA TRANSPORTER with more than 4000 lm) it is extremly difficult for other companies (in this case DFDS to Newcastle and P+O to Hull) to hold a high level of comfort for Pax if Stena is only concentrating on the lucrative freight only.
I have read this news about this new route in 12, 13, 14, 15 different maritime news websites - but generally not one was critical, not 1 critical word anywhere. So which how old ferries is it possible to start a new line anywhere without to become any critic ? Maybe next time they can start with 50 or 60 or 70 years old ships and again nobody is saying one critical word ?