FIFTY-FOUR JOBS face the axe at Fishguard where the ferry Koningen Beatrix is being replaced in March by the smaller, slower ship Stena Europe, currently plying on the Sweden-Poland service.

A Stena spokesman said that shore jobs will not be affected and, with negotiations currently under way with the unions, the slim-down will be achieved largely by voluntary redundancy, retirement and redeployment elsewhere in the company.

The ships are manned by UK and Southern Irish crews on a 60-40 basis and the spokesman said the Stena Europe will offer a more appropriate capacity set-up than the Kningen Beatrix to meet the operational requirements of the Fishguard-Rosslare route.

We are investing £4 million in an extensive refurbishment of the Stena Europe, currently on the Kariskrona-Gdynia service, adapting the ship to make it far more suitable for the route, said the spokesman. The passenger areas will be completely rebuilt with redesigned shopping areas, a larger and more comfortable club lounge, redesigned restaurants and new food and beverage concepts. The vessel will also be redesigned to take freight on the upper deck increasing the freight capacity by 30 metres to approximately 1,300 lane metres. The changes will provide both passengers and freight customers with a better mix of services, facilities and travel options.

The redundancies are the result of the introduction of a new flexible manning system and the changes are part of a drive for profitability by 2003.

Although Stenas strategic reshuffle will inevitably have a knock-on economic effect on the area, Fishguard has fared rather better than the Belfast-Stranraer route where 92 redundancies are in prospect. A range of options will be available for consideration by affected staff, including voluntary redundancy and outplacement facilities, said the spokesman. Stena is also trying to accommodate staff in other business units across the company.