Stena Line – Past Vessels

Rosslare – Fishguard

Stena Lynx III

Stena Express Service: 1998 – 2011

Built

1996
Incat Australia Hull No 040

Size

4,113gt
80.61M x 26M x 3.64M

Capacity

Passengers: 700
Cars: 165

Engines
Speed

4 x Ruston (16,200kW)
38kts

Route

Rosslare – Fishguard

The Incat Hull number 040 currently sailing in Korea as Orange 1 for Dae A Express Shipping was last in service for Stena Line on the Irish Sea in September 2011. It was the longest serving Incat in the history of Stena Line from 1996- 2011 and operated on Dover – Calais, Newhaven – Dieppe, Dun Laoghaire – Holyhead and Rosslare – Fishguard routes.
Originally chartered by Stena Line from American fast ferries the Stena Lynx III arrived in Dover to commence operations for Stena Line in 1996. In March 1997 it was transferred to the Newhaven – Dieppe service which was to become a P&O Stena operated service in 1998 when Stena Line and P&O began operating a new company P&O Stena on their respective English channel operations. The Stena Lynx III was renamed as the Elite, then P&O Stena Elite and reverted back to Stena Lynx III in late 1998 when it was transferred to the Irish Sea and the Rosslare – Fishguard route.
It was operated by Stena Line on the Rosslare – Fishguard route from 1998 until September 2003 when the charter with Stena Line expired and it was renamed Elite. The vessel was laid up in Birkenhead until sold to Stena Line and renamed the Stena Lynx III and resumed service on the Rosslare – Fishguard route in April 2004.
The Stena Lynx III then moved to the Rosslare – Fishguard route from 2004- 2009 on a seasonal basis from May – September. In 2010 the Lynx III was refitted at a cost of around £2 million to introduce the modern Stena Line on board concept including the Met Bar, Barista Coffee and revised Stena Plus also it was also decided to reduce the number of HSS sailings from Dun Laoghaire and the Stena Lynx III arrived at the Dublin port in March 2010 to take over the Stena HSS sailings from Dun Laoghaire until May when the HSS Stena Explorer would resume service and the Stena Lynx then returned to the Rosslare – Fishguard route from July – September 2010.
In 2011 the Lynx III served Dun Laoghaire from April – May and then returned to Fishguard and resumed the Stena Express service for July to September 2011. The craft was then laid up in Dun Laoghaire harbour, until in October 2011, Stena announced the sale of the ship to a Korean ferry operator and it was renamed Sunflower 2.
The Sunflower 2 left Dun Laoghaire for Korean waters in late October 2011. While en route she suffered engine failure in the Bay of Biscay and had lengthy delays in Gibraltar, Coruna and Malta while repairs were carried out. In 2012 the Sunflower 2 was renamed Orange 1.

Koningin Beatrix

1997 – 2002

Built

1986
Van Der Gissen De Noord

Size

31,910gt
161.78.M x 24.6M x 6.21M

Capacity

Passengers: 1,900
Cars: 520

Engines
Speed

4 x Man 8L40/45
20kts

Route

Rosslare – Fishguard

The then flagship of the Stena Line fleet arrived in Rosslare in June 1997 to replace the much loved Stena Felicity. Having served on the Harwich – Hoek Van Holland route for which she was built in 1986, the Koningin Beatrix was displaced by the introduction of the HSS Stena Discovery and the chartered Stena Felicity was returned to its owners Rederi AB Gotland.

The Koningin Beatrix was to serve the Rosslare route from 1997 until 2002 and during its time on the Irish sea ran to Dublin port when weather prevented the vessel berthing in Rosslare. In July 1998 she operated a charter for the Tour De France from Cork – Roscoff, the first and only time a Stena Line vessels has operated from the Port of Cork.

The Koningin Beatrix is the largest ferry to ever serve on the Rosslare – Fishguard route and suffered several berthing mishaps in Rosslare during its time on the route, during gale force winds in August 2007 it demolished a part of the quay wall when the vessel struck the breakwater and also managed in September 2001 to destroy the Lifeboat pen containing the RNLI St Brendan during another berthing incident.

In March 2002 the Stena Europe and Koningin Beatrix swapped routes and the Koningin Beatrix was renamed Stena Baltica prior to entry into service on the Karlskrona – Gdynia service for Stena Line.
In 2005 the Stena Baltica was extensively rebuilt at the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk at a cost of $32 million which was Stena’s largest ever investment in an existing vessel, where the Baltica had an extra freight deck added and the passenger capacity reduced from 1,800 passengers to 1,200 passengers but had her garage space doubled from 900 to 1,800 lane meters allowing 100 lorries to be carried on every crossing and also double deck loading was introduced.. The Funnel extensions were removed during this rebuild but were replaced soon afterwards.

In June 2011 the Stena Baltica was replaced by the Stena Spirit and proceeded to Landskrona for dry docking and lay up and in August 2011 the Stena Baltica was laid up in Lyeskil, Sweden awaiting sale/charter or further use in the Stena Line fleet.

Stena Felicity

1990 – 1997

Built

1980
Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona, Sweden

Size

23,842ngt
142.59M x 24.52M x 5.55M

Capacity

Passengers: 1,808
Cars: 515

Engines
Speed

4 * Burmeister & Wain 8K45 GUC
21 kts

Route

Rosslare – Fishguard

The Stena Felicity often regarded as the finest car ferry to ever sail on the Irish Sea is currently sailing for Polferries as the Scandinavia from Gdansk – Nynasham. Launched in 1980 as the Visby for Rederi AB Gotland she sailed out of Visby from 1980 – 1987 until chartered to Gotlandslinjen which took over the Gotland franchise from 1987 – 1990.

In September 1989 Sealink British Ferries agreed to charter the Visby to replace the St. Brendan on the Rosslare – Fishguard route, expected to enter service in March 1990. The Visby was handed over to Sealink in January 1990 and it was then refitted in Tilbury with £2 Million invested in the bars, shopping areas, restaurants and passenger facilities onboard. In a sign of the times it then proceeded to Dunkirk for lay up as a union disagreement delayed its introduction on the Rosslare route.

The new Felicity arrived on the Rosslare – Fishguard route in March 1990 and was an immediate success as the passenger facilities onboard which included a 200 seat cinema under the car decks, large shopping areas and plenty of outside deck space were very popular with those sailing on the ship.

In December 1990 Stena Line completed their takeover of Sealink and the Felicity became the Stena Felicity. In its time on the Rosslare route the Stena Felicity carried the full range of branding as Sealink became Stena, from Sealink British Ferries, to Sealink Stena Line, Stena Sealink Line and finally Stena Line all forms of branding were applied to the hull during refits.

The Stena Felicity served on the Rosslare – Fishguard route until July 1997 when it was replaced by the Koningin Beatrix.

In the summer of 1997 the Stena Felicity was returned to its owners Rederi AB Gotland which then carried out a major refit and rebuilding programme and then it was renamed Visby and returned to service with Destination Gotland. In 2002 the Visby was renamed Visborg and replaced with a new build called Visby.

In 2003 the Visborg was sold to Polferries and renamed Scandinavia and entered service on the Gdansk – Nynasham route.

Dublin – Holyhead

Stena Traveller

1995 – 1996

Built

1992
Fosen, Trondheim, Norway

Size

18,332gt
154M x 24M x 5.5M

Capacity

Passengers: 120
Cars: 480, Lanemeters 1,690

Engines
Speed

2 x Wartsila Sulzer 8ZA40S
19kts

Route

Dublin- Holyhead

In November 1995 the Stena Traveller made the first sailing on the new Dublin Port – Holyhead route for Sealink Stena Line. This was the first use of Dublin Port by Stena and the Traveller was introduced to develop the freight side of the business that the HSS Explorer service from Dun Laoghaire could not carry.
The Stena Traveller had very limited passenger accommodation and was replaced by the Stena Challenger in September 1996.

Stena Challenger

1996 – 2001

Built

1992
Fosen, Trondheim, Norway

Size

18,332gt
157M x 24M x 5.5M

Capacity

Passengers: 500
Cars: 480, Lanemeters 1,800

Engines
Speed

2 x Wartsila Sulzer 8ZA40S
19kts

Route

Dublin- Holyhead

In September 1996 the Stena Challenger which had been in service on the Dover – Calais route for Stena Line was transferred to the Dublin – Holyhead service to replaced the Stena Traveller. A sister ship of the Stena Traveller but with room for 500 passengers. The introduction of the Challenger was a major development on this route which was previously freight only.

Along with the Koningin Beatrix the Stena Challenger was chartered for the Tour de France in 1998 and sailed from Cork – Roscoff in July 1998.
In 2000 Stena Line announced that they had sold the Challenger to Marine Atlantic of Canada for delivery in 2001. In Late 2000 Stena announced the charter of the Stena Forwarder to replace the Challenger.

Stena Fowarder

2001 – 2003

Built

2001
Visentini, Italy

Size

25,000 gt
186M x 25.6M x 6.5M

Capacity

Passengers: 1,000
Lanemeters 2,100

Engines
Speed

2 * MAN-B&W 9L48/60
24kts

Route

Dublin- Holyhead

In April 2001 the Stena Forwarder arrived in Dublin port to begin service with Stena Line, this brought a further increase in passenger capacity to 1,000 passengers as well as increasing freight space. The Visentini built ship looked very impressive in the all white hull and Stena branding and allowed Stena to further develop their business on the Dublin port route. The only downside was the Forwarder was reported to lack bow thruster power and as a result sometimes had issues berthing in high winds.
In 2003 Stena announced that one of the new builds from Korea was to replace the Forwarder and the new Stena Adventurer was chartered from Stena Ro Ro for the Dublin Port route.

The Stena Forwarder was then chartered to Baja Ferries, Mexico and renamed California Star who purchased the ship in 2007.

Belfast – Stranraer

HSS Stena Voyager

Built 1996
Aker Finnyards, Ruma, Finland
Size 19,638gt
128.6M x 40M x 4.6M
Capacity Passengers: 1,500
Cars: 375
Or 50 Lorries / 100 Cars
Engines
Speed
2 x LM 2500 & 2 LM 1600
Gas Turbines (78,000kW)
40kts
Route Belfast – Stranraer

Originally ordered as one of three HSS 1500 craft the HSS Stena Voyager and its two sister ships the HSS Stena Explorer and HSS Stena Discovery were at the time of their launch the worlds largest catamarans, with a capacity for 1,500 passengers and 375 Cars or 50 Lorries.

The Stena Voyager was a refitted in 2008 and was very impressively brought into the new Stena look with the introduction of a new Stena Plus, Riva Quiet lounge, Met Bar and new looks to passenger areas.

In 28th January 2009 the Voyager made the news headlines when a articulated trailer broke free of its lashings and went through the No 1 stern door and was hanging of the back of the ferry, this left 156 passengers and 33 crew stranded on board the ferry for 24 hours as it could not use its berth due to the truck was blocking access. The Passengers and crew were eventually able to leave via a mobile platform.

In late 2009 The Stena Voyager began to operate a less intensive schedule and the speed of the service was also reduced to conserve fuel. In November 2011 the Stena Voyager made its last crossings on the route for which it was built and was laid up on its berth in Belfast on the 26th November 2011.

Stena Caledonia

Built

1980
Harland Wolff, Belfast

Size

12,619gt
129.5M x 21.6M x 5M

Capacity

Passengers: 1,000
Berths: 12
Cars: 285

Engines
Speed

2 x Pielstick (15,300kW)
19.5 kts

Route

Belfast-Stranraer

Now the last survivor in home waters of four ferries built by Harland & Wolff for Sealink English Channel and Irish Sea services, Stena Caledonia was completed as St David for use to Ireland from Holyhead and Fishguard but also relieved on the Larne-Stranraer run and had spell at Dover serving Calais and Ostend. From 1986 she joined sister vessel Galloway Princess at Stranraer and by the time of renaming to Stena Caledonia in 1990 the Northern Ireland port had been switched to Belfast. Since Galloway Princess, later Stena Galloway, was sold to Moroccan owners as Le Rif in 2002. Stena Caledonia has been the route’s only conventional ship sailing in support of the catamaran Stena Voyager.
The remaining ships of the series Stena Antrim (ex-St Christopher) is now Limadet’s Ibn Batoutta with Stena Cambria (ex-St Anselm) sold to Umifasa’s Balaeric routes as Isla de Botafoc. In 2009 the Stena Navigator joined the Stena Caledonia on the Belfast service as Stena throttled back the HSS service due to rising fuel costs. The Stena Caledonia remained in service with Stena Line until November 2011 and closed the Belfast – Stranraer service on the 26th November 2011 with the final sailing from Stranraer.
She is currently laid up available for sale in Belfast in the care of Stena subsidiary Northern Marine Management.

Stena Navigator

Built

1984/1997
Dubigeon Normandie, France

Size

15,093 gt
1300M x 22.5M x 4.98M

Capacity

Passengers 1,650
850 lane metres

Engines
Speed

2 x Pielstick 16PC2/6V 400
20kts

Route

Stranraer – Belfast

Originally completed for SNCF-Sealink’s Dover Straits operations in 1984 the Champs Élysées she was transferred to the Dieppe-Newhaven route in 1990 and later, when SNCF’s successors SNAT closed the route in 1992, the ship passed under charter to Sealink Stena Line who briefly reopened the Dieppe link. As the Stena Parisien, latterly in full Stena Line livery, the ship stayed at Dieppe until the end of 1996 when she was returned to her owners, who were then Seafrance. She received a complete refit, acquired the name Seafrance Manet and saw a further eleven years service, latterly in a freight only mode, before finally retiring from Seafrance’s active fleet in April 2008. She was then laid up at Calais, then Dunkerque. In July 2009 Stena announced they had re-acquired the Seafrance Manet, and planned to run her along side the HSS Stena Voyager and Stena Caledonia.
She underwent an extensive and award winning refit in Dunkerque and Belfast where she was renamed the Stena Navigator. The Shippax award for Ferry Conversion of 2009 was won by the Stena Navigator for the introduction of the Stena Line concepts on board the ship.
The Stena Navigators entered service on the 13th November 2009 until her last sailing on the 15th November 2011.
She was sold in January 2012 to a Spanish operator and is due to depart Belfast in February 2012 for a new career in Spain.

Larne – Fleetwood

Stena Leader

Built

1975
J.J. Sietas Hamburg, W. Germany

Size

12 879gt
114,8M x 19.4M x 5.8M

Capacity

Passengers 45
Berths: 45
1 380 lane meters

Engines
Speed

2 x KHD Diesel (8 825 kW)
18.5 kts

Route

Larne-Fleetwood

Although ordered by Stena Line, the vessel was bought by P&O during construction and entered service as Buffalo on Pandoro’s IrishSea service between Liverpool and Dublin. A mid-body section was added to increase capacity in 1989 and after switching to Larne-Fleetwood, a further lengthening of 15m took place in 1998 when her titles changed to P&O Irish Sea and she was renamed the “European Leader”. She was transferred to Stena after their takeover of the Larne-Fleetwood route in 2004.
Stena Line closed the Fleetwood service in December 2010 and the Stena Leader was laid up in Belfast. In June 2011 the Stena Leader was renamed Anna Marine and departed for Sevastopol, Ukraine on the 18th June.

Stena Pioneer

Built

1975
J.J. Sietas Hamburg, W. Germany

Size

14 426 gt
140,8M x 19.5M x 4.7M

Capacity

Passengers 76
Berths: 76
1 674 lane meters

Engines
Speed

2 x KHD Diesel (11,990hp)
18.5 kts

Route

Larne-Fleetwood

Originally to have been chartered from Stena Line by Pandoro, this vessel was purchased before completion and joined the Buffalo on the Dublin-Liverpool freight route as Bison. For four years from 1989 the service became a joint operation between Pandoro and B&I Line with the Bison operating with the B&I. Capacity was increased through the creation of a full height upper vehicle deck in 1995 with the name “European Pioneer being introduced two years later. Her accommodation was upgraded in 2000 during dry-docking at A&P Falmouth. She joined Stena after their takeover of the Larne-Fleetwood route in 2004.
Stena Line closed the Fleetwood service in December 2010 and the Stena Pioneer was laid up in Belfast. In June 2011 the Stena Pioneer was renamed Ant 1 and departed for Sevastopol, Ukraine on the 18th June.

Stena Seafarer

Built

1975
J.J. Sietas Hamburg, W. Germany

Size

10 957 gt
157,2M x 19.4M x 4.7M

Capacity

Passengers 80
Berths: 80
1 680 lane meters

Engines
Speed

2 x KHD Diesel (8 825 kW)
18.5 kts

Route

Larne-Fleetwood

The third in a series of freight ships built for Stena in Hamburg, the Stena Seafarer spent her early years in New Zealand – Australia as Union Melbourne for the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand. She arrived on the Irish Sea in 1980 after being chartered by Pandoro’s Liverpool-Dublin route as Puma. She was renamed the European Seafarer in 1998, and switched to the Fleetwood-Larne run, and in 2001 spent time on Rosslare-Cherbourg before the arrival of the European Diplomat in 2002. She was transferred to Stena after their takeover of the Larne-Fleetwood route in 2004.

The three Fleetwood vessels were withdrawn from service in December 2010 when Stena Line closed the Fleetwood service; all three vessels were laid up in Belfast. The Stena Seafarer saw further limited service as cover for the Stena Europe in January and February 2011 but returned to lay up in Belfast in February 2011. In May 2011 it was announced that all three vessels had been sold for further service in the Ukraine and on the 18th June 2011 they departed Belfast for Sevastopol, Ukraine. The Seafarer was renamed Ant 2 departed for Sevastopol, Ukraine on the 18th June.

Thanks to Ian Dockrell for additional information in this piece