Stena Line fleet movements

[giftgrub]

http://www.stenaroro.com/activities/Pages/Annual-Report-2014.aspx

Stena Lines annual review now available from above link

Also Stena RoRo are about to sell the Blue Puttes and Highlander to Marine Atlantic

http://marineatlanticjourney.ca/2015/05/26/new-federal-funding-commitment-will-further-strengthen-marine-atlantics-service/

[Steven]

http://www.stenaroro.com/activities/Pages/Annual-Report-2014.aspx

Stena Lines annual review now available from above link

Also Stena RoRo are about to sell the Blue Puttes and Highlander to Marine Atlantic

http://marineatlanticjourney.ca/2015/05/26/new-federal-funding-commitment-will-further-strengthen-marine-atlantics-service/

Cheers GG.  That costly conversion has paid off for both parties then

[giftgrub]

The former Stena Feronia has arrived down under ready to start service as Strait Feronia - purchased from Stena RoRo for 23 million euro

From the Stena Annual report

The Highlanders and Blue Puttes have been sold for €69 million euro each to Marine Atlantic, transfer takes place at the end of 2015 and start of 2016 for each vessel

The Snav Adriatico former Stena Baltica (former KB on Rosslare - Fishguard) still appears on the books as SNAV have a hire to purchase agreement.

[giftgrub]

Update on the former Stena Alegra's rebuild here

https://www.interislander.co.nz/Our-Ships-And-Services/Kaiarahi/Singapore-Dry-Dock-Updates.aspx

[giftgrub]

HSS Stena Carisma has been moved from its berth in Gothenburg to make way for the Volvo Ocean Race's arrival next week. Will it return ?

[TC]

Stena Alegra is looking very smart. To be honest its a pity she's down under. I think she would have looked very well somewhere on the Irish Sea. Rosslare - Cherbourg would have been perfect, and this new refit does her justice. Her sister, European Endeavour, has proved popular on Dublin - Liverpool. Shame Stena didn't replace the Horizon with her! To be honest I wouldn't be surprised to see Stena Nordica / Malo Seaways, on the Cherbourg run. However, Stena Nordica could be a good replacement for the aging Stena Nautica.

[Steven]

Stena Alegra is looking very smart. To be honest its a pity she's down under. I think she would have looked very well somewhere on the Irish Sea. Rosslare - Cherbourg would have been perfect, and this new refit does her justice. Her sister, European Endeavour, has proved popular on Dublin - Liverpool. Shame Stena didn't replace the Horizon with her! To be honest I wouldn't be surprised to see Stena Nordica / Malo Seaways, on the Cherbourg run. However, Stena Nordica could be a good replacement for the aging Stena Nautica.

Why would Stena want to replace Horizon with a smaller, older, and less efficient ship with half as many berths?  Until her rebuild she only had flume stabilisers as well - not very suitable for the crossing to France!  I don't see Horizon moving on anytime soon, unless her charter rate becomes unfavourable or something changes in the market making her unsuitable.

[mrwt.nsf]

Will Stena give the Horizon a refurbishment like the Lagan and Mersey?

[Steven]

Will Stena give the Horizon a refurbishment like the Lagan and Mersey?

That depends really on whether they are allowed to under the terms of the charter agreement, and indeed if they decide to purchase the vessel outright (as they did with Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey).  There has been some refurbishment already, though this has mainly been branding.

Edit:  I have checked, and the terms of the charter agreement prevent any further refurbishment.

[mrwt.nsf]

Thanks Steven. It will be interesting to see whether Stena do indeed decide to buy the vessel.

[TC]

Stena Alegra looks first class though from the pictures, and Stena RoRo do own the vessel, hence the major refurbishment, and if she was on the Cherbourg run (I was referring to her 'after' rebuild), I think she would have proved popular with the public.

I'm sure a Spanish or Polish yard could have done what was done in Singapore, and Stena would have had themselves their own ship, rather than a chartered one. That as you indicate Steven has a lot of restrictions in terms of branding ect. To be honest she's a bit like the 'odd' one in the fleet, not having the same level of interior refurbishment, now for two seasons under Stena. To be honest I don't think it reflects well from a marketing and 'experience' perspective. I'm not sure how long the charter is for, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was replaced with a fully refurbished vessel, or bought out right by Stena and a full refurbishment undertaken.

At the moment she doesn't look particularly comfortable, like most Visentini vessels (with standard interior).Those little very hard chairs, hard tiled floors, and generally very utilitarian interiors, are quite nasty when you compare them to lets say the Stena Europe.   

[PaddyL]

Stena Alegra looks first class though from the pictures, and Stena RoRo do own the vessel, hence the major refurbishment, and if she was on the Cherbourg run (I was referring to her 'after' rebuild), I think she would have proved popular with the public.

I'm sure a Spanish or Polish yard could have done what was done in Singapore, and Stena would have had themselves their own ship, rather than a chartered one. That as you indicate Steven has a lot of restrictions in terms of branding ect. To be honest she's a bit like the 'odd' one in the fleet, not having the same level of interior refurbishment, now for two seasons under Stena. To be honest I don't think it reflects well from a marketing and 'experience' perspective. I'm not sure how long the charter is for, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was replaced with a fully refurbished vessel, or bought out right by Stena and a full refurbishment undertaken.

At the moment she doesn't look particularly comfortable, like most Visentini vessels (with standard interior).Those little very hard chairs, hard tiled floors, and generally very utilitarian interiors, are quite nasty when you compare them to lets say the Stena Europe.   

I seen some pictures on a friend's Facebook page of the Stena Horizon from last year and whilst not fully refurbished, both her bar areas seemed to have new seats and the bench type seating in the bar and restaurant upgraded.  Whilst not up to the high standard of the Birkenhead ships she looked a step up from "standard Visentini" from pictures I've seen of the Etretat, Norman Asturias and Norman Atlantic.

A Stena friend told me - I'm not sure how true this is - that her charter rate is so low that there was no incentive to buy her immediately but they probably would at the end of her charter. 

As for her and the Allegra switching - need to check but surely the Horizon has many more cabins and better freight capacity?

[TC]

Good to hear about the seating. No offence intended but the Visentini interiors are quite brutal, when you compare them to even smaller vessels like European Highlander. Your right Paddy the Stena Mersey and Lagan are first class, very nice ships, and the interior is very good, and comfortable. I remember the ships back under Norfolk Line and they were pretty basic to say the least. To be honest their unrecognizable.

Stena Alegra I'm sure will prove to be a very good ship, and certainly looks first class. The stabiliser fins are an improvement as well. As far as I am aware her sister, P&O's European Endeavour only has flume stabilisers. Over the many journeys on her, I found she handles the Dublin - Liverpool crossing quite well, and that's 7 hours, and the ships do take quite a hammering in terms of weather conditions.   

Capacity is lower though, which is a negative. Interesting what you said Paddy about the charter rates.

[ferryfan]

Stena have left the virtual tour of Carisma on their website, not sure when the pics were taken but the ship certainly looks well in them
https://v6-moving-pictures.com/stena_carisma/

[Steven]

I have also heard that the charter rate is low on Horizon, giving little incentive to purchase.   Stena Horizon is also a direct sister to Stena Lagan/Mersey, and has some 2885 lane metres of vehicle space versus Alegra's 1900lm - that is before taking into account the possible effects of the conversion on things like deadweight, and wether any of that trailer space will be used for additional passenger accommodation or to allow additional passenger accommodation (such as supports encroaching, etc). Stena Line operate more than 3 Visentini's - Lagan and Mersey are actually the odd ships in the fleet in many ways.  Much in the same way as Lagan and Mersey where (and to an extent still are), Horizon is primarily there to shift large amounts of freight efficiently, with passengers being a bonus.

Stena Alegra would be the odd one out in the Stena fleet (if she where a part of the Stena Line fleet - don't forget she is owned by Stena roro).  You can guarantee that interislander are paying for the refurbishment and upgrade of Alegra through their charter fee, something Stena Line have no need to do as they have a perfectly capable ship in Stena Horizon. It is certainly more cost effective to do the work in Singapore than returning her to Europe first, and she did have some mechanical issues which needed rectified anyway - why bring back and convert a ship which isn't really needed when there is someone local willing to take her on and foot the bill anyway.  By recent Northern European standards she is a little small anyway tbh.  I believe it is intended that she will stay there now, much in the way the Marine Atlantic twins where initially chartered (and given a bespoke conversion) and are now to be purchased.  Another example of a speculative purchase on the part of Stena which has paid off it seems!