Stena Line fleet movements

Started by Collision-course, October 12, 2008, 04:54:51 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

giftgrub

#450
Nothing to do with the Irish Sea, but here is how they painted the Trelleborg.  One of the ferries from the Scandlines fleet which was recently given a fresh coat of paint and the Stena Line branding.

[media width=600]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcK4uRoo0uk[/media]

ade51

"As mentioned on another forum, the Voyager is likely to be scrapped by Stena and turned back into Aluminium."

And not a moment too soon. The sooner both of these incredibly awful vessels are recycled into aluminium, the better. :)

Robbie74656

so you're saying you prefer any other bulky monohull ferry to the HSS' catamaran figure? Interesting how tastes differ :). apart from its obvious flaws this 'awful' ferry took me across the north channel in less than fours in stead of more than 8, and I'm glad of it. Personally I find it a shame it is being scrapped. At the very least it would make for a nice museum like they have in New York. :D

ade51

The HSS concept was an evolutionary dead end, a bit like passenger/car ferry hovercraft. The ships themselves were tacky and had had every milligram of the maritime experience squeezed out of them - terrible outside deck space and the interior was like a floating burger bar. They had the ambience of a downmarket Burger King. Stena Line are a fine shipping company and their more recent vessels are very good indeed, particularly the Superfasts and the Stena Lagan and Mersey. But they dropped a clanger with the HSS concept and the sooner they are turned into baked bean cans on the shelves of Tesco the better.
AJS

steven_shaw

Quote"As mentioned on another forum, the Voyager is likely to be scrapped by Stena and turned back into Aluminium."

And not a moment too soon. The sooner both of these incredibly awful vessels are recycled into aluminium, the better. :)

What a load of bull

These were the best ships that sailed on the Irish sea routes and still ahead of their time

I for 1 will never go on the slow boats they have now as they have gone back 10 years in my eyes

Matt73

QuoteThe HSS concept was an evolutionary dead end, a bit like passenger/car ferry hovercraft. The ships themselves were tacky and had had every milligram of the maritime experience squeezed out of them - terrible outside deck space and the interior was like a floating burger bar. They had the ambience of a downmarket Burger King. Stena Line are a fine shipping company and their more recent vessels are very good indeed, particularly the Superfasts and the Stena Lagan and Mersey. But they dropped a clanger with the HSS concept and the sooner they are turned into baked bean cans on the shelves of Tesco the better.
AJS

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more!  I've posted before that they were the concord of the seas.  Like every fast craft before them, they were scuppered as soon as the cost of oil
rocketed. Then we had the Stena Discovery being damaged by a freak wave and a lorry falling out of it and to the bottom of the North Sea, with no conventional ships at the time to cover for its absence. As I recall, passengers were sent to Dover instead.  Unless and until you can get a propulsion system with vastly reduced fuel costs and a hull which is much more robust, these craft are just vanity projects.  I don't doubt for a moment the marvel of marine engineering the HSS represents, or the reduced journey time, but it's conventional tonnage all the way for me. 

I would also be interested to know whether Stena has in any way recouped the total value of the investment with the three HSS 1500 and the smaller 900.  I doubt it.

Your Burger King analogy is quite apt as it is a little known fact that Stena held the Burger King franchise in Sweden and, I think, other Scandinavian countries in the late 1980s.  It was disposed of around the same time as the ill-fated British Columbia Stena Line project at the time when James Sherwood forced Stena to pay over the odds for Sealink British Ferries in 1990. 

Matt

maehara

Quoteso you're saying you prefer any other bulky monohull ferry to the HSS' catamaran figure? Interesting how tastes differ :).
Of all the catamarans to ply the Irish Sea, the HSS is by far the least visually attractive - all those angles and straight lines do it no favours at all.  And, as others have said, it never really felt like a boat when you were on board.

Bring back the SeaCats... :)

hayes.tony

Quote
Quote.  It was disposed of around the same time as the ill-fated British Columbia Stena Line project at the time when James Sherwood forced Stena to pay over the odds for Sealink British Ferries in 1990. 

Matt

Stena had a British Columbia Project? I would like to hear more about that .... As it happens, through work, I am getting a tour of the current BC Ferries operations centre and drydock on Saturday morning.

Fast Ferry Fan

#458
QuoteOf all the catamarans to ply the Irish Sea, the HSS is by far the least visually attractive - all those angles and straight lines do it no favours at all.  And, as others have said, it never really felt like a boat when you were on board.

Bring back the SeaCats... :)

The angles and lines are just a function of the time it was built in the same way that the angles and lines on other modes of transport (cars / trains / buses) have been smoothed out.

As regards it not feeling like a boat - that's why it was so good; fast journey, quick to load and quick to unload.  If I wanted to take all day getting there and saunter about on the deck, I'd book a cruise holiday.  The only scenario I can think of where I might take the opposite view is if were driving a lorry all day, when a longer ferry journey would give more time for resting.

Matt73

#459
Quote
Quote
Quote.  It was disposed of around the same time as the ill-fated British Columbia Stena Line project at the time when James Sherwood forced Stena to pay over the odds for Sealink British Ferries in 1990. 

Matt

Stena had a British Columbia Project? I would like to hear more about that .... As it happens, through work, I am getting a tour of the current BC Ferries operations centre and drydock on Saturday morning.

Yes they did. In 1988, they acquired a majority share in the British Columbia Steamship company's Seattle-Victoria ferry line service from the BC government.  They ran two ferries, the Princess Margherite and the Vancouver Island Princess.  They refurbished both vessels, which dated from the 1940s I think, but never made any money on them, which they blamed on high operating costs etc.  For example, they had casinos on board and were forced to use them only when the ships were in international waters; this didn't make them terribly profitable.  They also reduced the passenger numbers to about 800.

Long story short, they tried to sell the ships, but there were clauses in the original sale contract, in addition to the BC Govt owning a minority stake, which prevented this from happening.  It caused a terrible to-do at the time I think.  See the link below for the full detail. 

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=7478

It was a short-lived affair and I think Stena pulled out in 1991 having lost a lot of money.  This was at a time when the early 1990s recession was starting to bite and they realised they had paid over the odds for Sealink British Ferries, having splurged on investment in new ships for various routes, including Dover-Calais, for Sealink Stena Line. 

This led to Stena Line AB, which was then listed on the Swedish stock market, being technically insolvent for most of the 1990s. They had to issue a series of debentures and share issues in Sweden, which would have dragged down any other company.  They were fortunate that Stena Line was part of the wider Stena group which is linked to the deep pockets of the Olsson family.  This was one of the reasons why Dan Sten Olsson took the company private again 2000, where it has remained ever since.  In addition, Stena AB, the parent company has diversified considerably since then.  If you look at the latest Annual Report, Stena Line only contributes 30% of the "Stena Sphere" and Stena Ro/Ro, which builds and charters all of the ferries, is a mere 1%.

Hope little history is helpful and enjoy the trip on Saturday!

Matt

giftgrub

#460
Regardless of your opinion on the Stena HSS project, feast your eyes on the images of the HSS Stena Explorer in dry dock at H&W Belfast.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottmackey/8250879472/in/photostream/

Amazing how clean the hulls are, after more than two years since its last drydocking.

A big thank you to Scott Mackey for posting these images, his Flickr site contains plenty of fantastic images.

Having done some research into the fuel consumption of the HSS, this could well be the Explorers last time in dry dock before it joins the Voyager at the recycling yard before being made in drinks cans, Stena Metall will be busy.

hayes.tony

Thanks Matt73 for the info and link. Very interesting.

BTW great pics of HSS.

steven_shaw

Unbelievable that sten would scrap those as they are totally state of the art as opposed to the clapped out old superfasts

maehara

QuoteUnbelievable that sten would scrap those as they are totally state of the art as opposed to the clapped out old superfasts
"Clapped out old"?  The Superfasts are four years younger than the Voyager (Voyager launched 1996, Superfast VII & VIII both launched 2000).  Considerably nicer on board, too, IMO.

Neither of which would matter if the HSS ships weren't so thirsty, admittedly.  Not so state-of-the-art on that front.  :)

Robbie74656

True. Wouldnt putting some other form of "engine" in the hss" be an option? Smaller turbines, conventional engines for example? I have wondered sometimes how removable the turbines would be.