Stena Line fleet movements

[HSS]

Stena Flavia still sheltering from Storm Imogen off Exmouth Epsilon crawled along the Devonshire coastline overnight and is currently sheltering in Barnstable Bay. Epsilon was due to make a Dublin-Rosslare run this afternoon. Rosslare Pemborke all sailings canceleld today as are all Swift sailings and this mornings Fishguard sailing

Have been sheltering all day - why leave the safety of Cherbourg port in the first place?

Rosslare - France

Very high to phenomenal at first, decreasing rough to very rough by Tuesday.

[TC]

Two factors.

1. To keep the customers freight moving - hauliers, unaccompanied / trailers.

2. Profit.

[conor]

Stena Flavia leaving shelter now due into rosslare at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Epsilon still crawling around in Barnstable bay at 5-8 kts.

[PaddyL]

Stena Flavia still sheltering from Storm Imogen off Exmouth Epsilon crawled along the Devonshire coastline overnight and is currently sheltering in Barnstable Bay. Epsilon was due to make a Dublin-Rosslare run this afternoon. Rosslare Pemborke all sailings canceleld today as are all Swift sailings and this mornings Fishguard sailing

Have been sheltering all day - why leave the safety of Cherbourg port in the first place?

Rosslare - France

Very high to phenomenal at first, decreasing rough to very rough by Tuesday.

Things seemed pretty bad at Cherbourg as the Bretagne couldn't get in so that was probably part of it but also I think it was worse than forecast.  No master would leave port if they thought there was any danger to his ship so I'm sure both ships left port with good intentions.

[Steven]

Stena Flavia still sheltering from Storm Imogen off Exmouth Epsilon crawled along the Devonshire coastline overnight and is currently sheltering in Barnstable Bay. Epsilon was due to make a Dublin-Rosslare run this afternoon. Rosslare Pemborke all sailings canceleld today as are all Swift sailings and this mornings Fishguard sailing

Have been sheltering all day - why leave the safety of Cherbourg port in the first place?

Rosslare - France

Very high to phenomenal at first, decreasing rough to very rough by Tuesday.

I wouldn't call it safety.  High winds and waves and a heck of a lot of solid structures to get blown in to!  Remember what happened to Napoléon Bonaparte when tied up in a storm!

[Steven]

Stena have released some more detail on the refit of Stena Superfast VIII.  Some good upgrades IMHO.

Stena Superfast VIII keeps Irish Sea refits on schedule
This week it's the turn of Stena Superfast VIII to visit dry dock at Harland & Wolff in Belfast and so far the programme is well on schedule which should see the vessel return to her duties on Monday 15th Feb, Superfast V11 will then head to Dry Dock for a short visit and Superfast X will continue to run on the Belfast – Cairnryan route.
During the refit all the relevant statutory surveys will be carried out commensurate with the vessel's 15 years of service. The dry dock time is also being utilised to complete maintenance and checks on all areas that remain underwater during normal service such as rudders, stabilisers, bow and stern thrusters. A full paint system will be applied to both the underwater area as well as the upper outer accommodation areas before which all areas will be fully prepped to a high standard to ensure that the paint remains in good condition until the next scheduled refit period.
Paul Grant, Route Manager (Irish Sea North) said: "We are delighted with the way our refit programme has progressed this year. Given the volume and complexity of the work that's required across our fleet it's a great testimony to the skills and experience of our shore and on board teams that we are sitting pretty much bang on schedule at present, despite the most challenging of weather conditions which have visited us recently. Great credit goes to all those involved in the planning and delivery of our refit project."
One of the more complex duties to be completed during the refit is the removal of the deck pillars on the upper car deck. This is quite an intricate and extensive project which requires considerable planning and naval architecture skills to spread the load while ensuring the rigidity and strength of the vessel remains, despite the removal of the pillars. On the OBS side of things, there are a number of modifications taking place including a refurbishment of the Spa, the provision of outside seating on Deck 10, 60" TVs installed in the Met Bar and a range of passenger lift upgrades.

[seaman]

Just some rumours, did hear that Stena Line might charter the El. Venizelos to replace the current one on the Rosslare-Cherbourg route.

Would be nice though to see the 3rd sister ship within the Stena fleet together with the Stena Spirit and Vision, the ship that was unfinished for couple of years and later cancelled by Stena Line, sadly the never finished 4th  sister was scrapped in 2011 :-(

[giftgrub]

Just some rumours, did hear that Stena Line might charter the El. Venizelos to replace the current one on the Rosslare-Cherbourg route.

Would be nice though to see the 3rd sister ship within the Stena fleet together with the Stena Spirit and Vision, the ship that was unfinished for couple of years and later cancelled by Stena Line, sadly the never finished 4th  sister was scrapped in 2011 :-(

Unfortunately that will not be happening, the El Venizelos is not the most reliable ship in the world,  would drink fuel compared to the Stena Horizon and has totally out of sync passenger capacity for a freight oriented route.

[Steven]

Just some rumours, did hear that Stena Line might charter the El. Venizelos to replace the current one on the Rosslare-Cherbourg route.

Would be nice though to see the 3rd sister ship within the Stena fleet together with the Stena Spirit and Vision, the ship that was unfinished for couple of years and later cancelled by Stena Line, sadly the never finished 4th  sister was scrapped in 2011 :-(

Unfortunately that will not be happening, the El Venizelos is not the most reliable ship in the world,  would drink fuel compared to the Stena Horizon and has totally out of sync passenger capacity for a freight oriented route.

This made me chuckle (no offence) for a number of reasons.  Primarily, where would they put the freight?  That a visentini is used on the route is no incident as they need the freight capacity (and the low operating costs help).  If Horizon where to be replaced it'd most likely be with another Visentini or similar.  That she is the second of the type on the route is no coincidence.

El Venizelos is not actually a sister to Spirit and Vision, and hasn't been since those pair left the yard.  She was never finished in Poland after all (being completed at the 3rd yard she went to!) and is configured very differently.  As giftgrub said she isn't exactly reliable, probably not helped by the fact she sat around for almost a decade before being completed.  She is a bit of a fuel guzzler and IMO would need serious money spent to bring her up to the standard of Spirit and Vision. 

[gerrym]

  Steven, just a little grammar niggle: it should be "if Stena Horizon WERE to be replaced" not "WHere to be replaced."  Just a small thing, but can cause confusion in some sentences.. but love your posts, and keep them coming :-)

[seaman]

Like i said, just rumours though so i'm not taking anything as an offence :-)

Freight capacity would not be the biggest issue if they would remove all the cabins and the passenger space on deck 5 and 6 turning it to a car deck making bigger freight volume like on the Spirit/Vision.

Well, maybe too much off topic now.

[Steven]

Like i said, just rumours though so i'm not taking anything as an offence :-)

Freight capacity would not be the biggest issue if they would remove all the cabins and the passenger space on deck 5 and 6 turning it to a car deck making bigger freight volume like on the Spirit/Vision.

Well, maybe too much off topic now.

Still a lot of expenditure on what has been a very problematic ship though.  In any case the net result would be a similar freight capacity to Horizon but with much higher running costs.  If taken on a charter chances are there would be restrictions placed on the work which could be done on her anyway.  Its a shame Horizon hasn't been able to be brought quite up to the standard of Lagan/Mersey.  If so I'm sure she would be an excellent ship for the run (not that she isn't already well suited anyway).

[Collision-course]

It seems Stena Nordica is heading for the Med.................................http://www.ship2shore.it/en/shipping/a-scandinavian-ship-for-gnv_60287.htm

[giftgrub]

It seems Stena Nordica is heading for the Med.................................http://www.ship2shore.it/en/shipping/a-scandinavian-ship-for-gnv_60287.htm

Well we did not see that coming, and for 20,000 euro a day to charter !

In other news

Stena Europe is off on annual vacation tonight, heading for Falmouth for the biggest refit and technical upgrade its had in a long time.

[20knots]

I presume the refit is all on the technical side with her accommodation remaining unchanged?

She was in Rosslare well before 6 tonight and it appears the Isle of Inishmore (inbound from Pembroke Dock) had to circle off the harbour for a short time until she vacated the Inishmore's usual berth.

I wonder is this just put down to experience or if Irish Ferries would receive a slight reduction in berthing fees from the port authority as a result.

Epsilon and Stena Flavia were also in port.