Stena Line

Stena Adventurer
A miniature model of the Stena Line ferry on display at Madurodam miniature park, the Netherlands

Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere. It is a sister company to Stena Bulk, one of largest tanker companies in the world.

History

Formation

Stena Line was founded in 1962 by Sten A. Olsson in Gothenburg, Sweden, which still serves as the company's headquarters, when he acquired Skagenlinjen between Gothenburg and Frederikshavn, Denmark.

In 1972, Stena Line was one of the first ferry operators in Europe to introduce a computer-based reservation system for the travel business area. In 1978, the freight business area also started operating a computer-based reservation system.

Freight

The first freight-focused route started between Gothenburg, Sweden, and Kiel, Germany. The ship was the MS Stena Transporter.

North Sea

During the 1980s, Stena acquired three other ferry companies.

  • 1981, Sessan Line, Stena's biggest competitor on Sweden–Denmark routes, was acquired and incorporated into Stena Line. This included Sessan's two large newbuilds, Kronprinsessan Victoria and Prinsessan Birgitta, which became the largest ships operated by Stena by that date.
  • 1983, Stena acquired Varberg-Grenå Linjen, and two years later also the right to that company's former name, Lion Ferry. Lion Ferry continued as a separate marketing company until 1997, when it was incorporated into Stena Line.
  • 1989, Stena acquired yet another ferry company, Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (SMZ) (which at the time traded under the name Crown Line). SMZ's Hook of Holland–Harwich route then became a part of Stena Line.

North America

  • 1988, July - Stena Line purchased the British Columbia Steamship Co., operators of a Victoria–Seattle route.
  • 1990, November - The Victoria–Seattle run was permanently cancelled, and the local company ceased trading.

Irish Sea

In 1990, Stena Line doubled in size with the acquisition of Sealink British Ferries from Sea Containers. This first became Sealink Stena Line, then Stena Sealink Line and finally Stena Line (UK), which now operates all of Stena's ferry services between Great Britain and Ireland.

Stena Superfast X arriving at Dublin (2017)
Stena Jutlandica in Gothenburg

In 1996, Stena Line introduced its 20,000 tonne HSS (High-speed Sea Service) vessels, which operated: Belfast–Stranraer; Holyhead–Dún Laoghaire and Hook of Holland–Harwich. In addition to the three 1,500-passenger HSS vessels, Stena Line ordered two smaller 900-passenger HSS vessels to operate on the Gothenburg–Frederikshavn route. Due to the bankruptcy of the shipyard, only the first of these vessels was ever completed.

English Channel

In 1998, Stena's operations from Dover and Newhaven formed a joint venture with P&O European Ferries as P&O Stena Line, owned 40% and 60% respectively. In 2002, P&O acquired all of Stena's shares in the company, thus becoming the sole owner of P&O Stena Line, which soon changed its name to P&O Ferries.

Further expansion

In 2000, Stena Line purchased yet another Scandinavian ferry operator: Scandlines AB.

In November 2006, Stena ordered a pair of "super ferries" with a gross tonnage of 62,000 from Aker Yards, Germany for delivery in 2010, with an option for two more ships of the same design. The new ferries will be amongst the largest in the world, to be operated on Stena's North Sea route from Hook of Holland to Harwich. The existing ships from the North Sea were to be moved to the Kiel–Gothenborg route, whereas the ships from Kiel would transfer to the Gdynia to Karlskrona route. The new ferries were launched in 2010, with Stena Hollandica entering service on 16 May 2010, and Stena Britannica planned to enter service in 2010.

Acquisitions and closures

  • 2008, May - The company moved its Belfast Terminal from Albert Quay to the new VT4. This has reduced the length of the crossing to Stranraer by ten minutes.
  • 2009, July - Stena Line announced that it had repurchased its former ship, Stena Parisien, from SeaFrance. The ship was renamed Stena Navigator after a comprehensive refit. She was then introduced on the Stranraer to Belfast route, alongside HSS Stena Voyager and Stena Caledonia.
  • 2010, December - Stena Line announced it had acquired the Northern Irish operations of DFDS Seaways. The sale includes the Belfast to Heysham & Birkenhead routes, two vessels from the Heysham route (Scotia Seaways & Hibernia Seaways) and two chartered vessels from the Birkenhead route (Mersey Seaways & Lagan Seaways). The Fleetwood to Larne route ended on 24 December 2010.
  • 2011, 21 November - Stena Line introduced the Stena Superfast VII and Stena Superfast VIII to replace the Stena Navigator and Stena Caledonia on the Belfast–Cairnryan route. It was announced that the Stena Voyager would be removed from service on 20 November 2011. It was later sold to Stena Recycling and sent for scrapping in May 2013. The two new vessels were initially chartered from Tallink before Stena bought them in 2017.
  • 2014, 26 February - it was announced that Stena Line would acquire the Celtic Link ferry service from Rosslare to Cherbourg, France. It was also agreed to take over the charter of their vessel Celtic Horizon, which was renamed Stena Horizon.
  • 2019, February - A joint venture with Hyundai Glovis has been announced and approved by the European Commission, for the implementation of a new cooperative short sea intra-European waters service in between the two carriers, for the sea transport of transhipment cargo originating from South Korea.
  • 2020, 14 March - due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the company suspended operations between Oslo and Frederikshavn temporarily until further notice due to travel restrictions in Denmark and Norway, the routes sole ship the MS Stena Saga was sent to Gothenburg where she arrived on 16 March 2020 where the company later confirmed it would be making 950 redundancies in Sweden as a result of Coronavirus. The company then later announced on 19 March 2020 that it was going to permanently suspend and close operations on the Oslo–Frederikshavn service due to the lack of profitability, where Stena announced that due to Coronavirus it was unlikely able to see it turn a profit during the whole year when the service is totally dependent on the summer season. The future of Stena Saga remains uncertain and remained laid up in Gothenburg (since end of 2021 she has been anchored near Manila, Philippines).
  • 2020 – 2021 - After being replaced by two new e-flexers, MV Stena Embla and MV Stena Edda, on the Belfast to Birkenhead route MV Stena Mersey and MV Stena Lagan proceeded to Tuzla, Turkey for a major refit. This included lengthening by 36 metres (118 ft), adding full drive through capabilities on two decks, full interior renovation and adding fuel scrubbers to reduce emissions. They entered service on the Nynäshamn to Ventspils route as MV Stena Baltica and MV Stena Scandica respectively.
  • 2021, February – May - Due to a shift in travel demand, MV Stena Estrid swapped with MV Stena Horizon giving additional capacity to the Rosslare to Cherbourg route. This is after MV Stena Estrid operated a temporary route between Dublin and Cherbourg in January 2021.
  • 2021, April - Stena introduced MV Stena Livia, which has been owned by Stena RoRo since 2012, on the Nynäshamn to Ventspils route alongside sister ship MV Stena Flavia. Later in the year they were transferred to the Travemünde to Liepāja route after being replaced by the newly refurbished MV Stena Baltica and MV Stena Scandica.
  • 2021, June – July - Due to a shift in travel demand, MV Stena Estrid operated a temporary route between Holyhead and Belfast.
  • 2022, 1 February - Stena introduced the Nynäshamn - Hanko route initially with MV Urd as a cargo vessel then additionally with MV Stena Gothica from May 2022.
  • 2023, 30 June - Stena transferred MV Stena Vision to their Rosslare to Cherbourg route, greatly increasing the passenger capacity and doubling the passenger sailings on the route. She replaced the chartered freight vessel MV Seatruck Panorama. She was replaced by the new MV Stena Ebba on her previous route Karlskrona to Gdynia.
  • 2023, 9 October - Stena announced they will be closing the Nynäshamn to Hanko on 20 October 2023, with the vessels being transferred within their fleet or going up on the charter market.
  • 2023, October - Stena bought MV Frijsenborg, renaming her MV Stena Forwarder during a refit in Ostend. She entered service on the Birkenhead to Belfast route on 2 November 2023, replacing MV Stena Foreteller.
  • 2023, 15 December - Stena confirmed their intention to open a Dublin to Birkenhead route, replacing the P&O's service which they ceased operating on 21 December 2023 with MV Norbank. On 19 February 2024, Stena Line initiated its new freight-only route from Dublin to Birkenhead, the Stena Horizon will be temporarily used on this route as a permanent vessel solution is being considered.
  • 2024, 8 March - Stena announced that they sold MV Urd to Sea Lines for an undisclosed amount. Delivery is to take place in May 2024 for services between Turkey and Romania.
  • 2024, 8 April - Stena Line acquired 49% of the shares in Africa Morocco Link (AML) from Attica Group, expanding them outside of Europe. They operate the routes Tanger Med, Morocco to Algeciras, Spain and Tanger Ville, Morocco to Tarifa, Spain.
  • 2024, May - Stena RoRo signed a contract to convert MV Stena Foreteller and MV Stena Forerunner to install an extra cargo deck and thruster power. This will add 30% additional capacity for each vessel. MV Stena Foreteller sailed for Weihai, China on 14 February 2025, she is due to arrive on 26 March 2025.
  • 2024, September - MV Stena Gothica was sold to Universal Maritime and renamed MV Gothica for service in the Mediterranean Sea.
  • 2024, 10 September - MV Stena Vision will be removed from the Rosslare to Cherbourg route due to lack of demand from 27 October 2024.
  • 2024, 7 December - Due to the closure of Holyhead port all sailings to Dublin are cancelled, initially until 13 Dec then to 20 Dec then to 15 Jan 2025 with additional routes running out of Dublin to Fishguard with MV Stena Adventurer, Birkenhead with MV Stena Estrid, and Heysham with chartered MV Ben My Chree. The closure of the port was due to storm damage from Storm Darragh which damaged part of the pier at terminal 3.
  • 2024, 16 December - It was announced that MV Stena Vinga will be chartered to DFDS for their new route to Jersey after winning the tender for it. She began service on 28 March 2025.
  • 2025, 21 March - It was announced that MV Stena Livia had been sold to Strait NZ Bluebridge for service on the Cook Strait from August 2025. From 25 April MV Stena Horizon will take over from her on the Travemünde – Liepāja route with MV Stena Vision taking her previous post on the Cherbourg – Rosslare route from 17 April after relieving the chartered MV Patria Seaways.

Routes

Irish Sea

North Sea

Scandinavia

Baltic Sea

Charters

Under Construction / Conversion

  • Under conversion in Weihai, China (arrived 26 March 2025) having gone via Las Palmas, Port Louis and Singapore: Stena Foreteller
  • Under construction in Weihai, China (Launched 21 October 2024): Stena Futura
  • Under construction in Weihai, China (Launched 24 February 2024): Stena Connecta

Fleet

Further information: List of Stena Line vessels

Current ships

Future fleet

On 10 May 2023, Stena has announced that they had ordered two NewMax freight hybrid freight vessels for the Belfast to Heysham route. They are due to begin service in Autumn 2025, giving an 80% boost in capacity to the current ships at 147 metres (482 ft) long with 2,800 lane meters. The NewMax vessels will be methanol powered and have built in electrification including for shore power and battery propulsion.

  • Stena Traveller at the Hook of Holland
    Stena Traveller at the Hook of Holland
  • Stena Traveller at the Hook of Holland
    Stena Traveller at the Hook of Holland

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

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Uses material from the Wikipedia article Stena Line, released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.