Stena Line has announced that it will cut its workforce by 142 people by March 2002.
The redundancies will affect the Stena routes between Rosslare and Fishguard, where 50 employees will be laid off and the Belfast-Stranraer route where 92 people will also lose their jobs.
Announcing the decision, Mr Bo Severed, CEO of Stena Lines said that move was the result of restructuring designed to make the company profitable by the middle of 2003.
"The changes will provide both passenger - and freight customers with a better mix of services, facilities and travel options," said Mr Severed.
"Our objective is to be profitable by 2003 and this is an important and necessary step in the process to achieve that."
Stena Line is investing £4 million in an extensive refurbishment of Stena Europe, adapting the ship to the requirements of the Fishguard-Rosslare route
According to a statement issued today the passenger areas will be completely rebuilt while the ships will be rebuilt to take freight on upper deck, increasing the freight capacity by 300 lane metres to approximately 1,300 lane metres.
The restructuring will result in the withdrawal of the Stena Galloway on the Belfast-Stranraer route in February 2002 and 92 people will be made redundant.
"We have reached the conclusion that we have to reduce our capacity and increase the efficiency on the Belfast-Stranraer route if we are to remain competitive today and feel confident in investing for tomorrow", Mr Severed said.
"Stena Line is considering to move its port facilities in Belfast and Stranraer. The facilities in Belfast will remain within the Belfast port and the port facilities in Stranraer will stay within the Loch Ryan area."