Stena Line

Stena Line

Type	Private
Industry	Transport
Founded	1962
Founder	Sten A. Olsson
Headquarters	Gothenburg, Sweden
Key people	Niclas Martensson CEO)
Products	Ferries, port services, passenger transportation, freight transportation, holidays, business travel
Revenue	5.0 billion SEK (2015)
Number of employees	5,000 (2015)
Parent	Stena AB
Website	www.stenaline.com

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 largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere.

History[]

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.

The first freight-focused route^[1] started between Gothenburg, Sweden, and Kiel, Germany. The ship was the MS Stena Transporter.

During the 1980s, Stena acquired three other ferry companies. In 1981, Sessan Line, Stena's biggest competitor on Sweden–Denmark routes, was acquired and incorporated into Stena Line.^[2] This included Sessan's two large newbuilds, Kronprinsessan Victoria and Prinsessan Birgitta, which became the largest ships operated by Stena by that date. In 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.^[3] In 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.^[4]

Stena Line doubled in size in 1990 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 Jutlandica in Gothenburg

Stena Superfast X arriving at Dublin (2017)

In 1996, Stena Line introduced its 20,000 tonne HSS (High-speed Sea Service) vessels, which operated from Belfast to Stranraer, Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire and Hook of Holland to 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.

In 1998, Stena's operations from Dover and Newhaven were merged with P&O European Ferries to form P&O Stena Line, 40% of which was owned by Stena and 60% by P&O. 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.

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.^[5] The new ferries will be amongst the largest in the world,^[6] 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 the autumn of 2010.^[7]

The company also moved its Belfast Terminal from Albert Quay to the new VT4 during May 2008. This has reduced the length of the crossing to Stranraer by ten minutes.

In July 2009, Stena Line announced that it had repurchased its former ship, Stena Parisien, from SeaFrance. The ship is now known as Stena Navigator. She had a comprehensive refit. Following on from this, the ship was introduced on the Stranraer to Belfast route, alongside HSS Stena Voyager and Stena Caledonia.

In December 2010, 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).^[8] The Fleetwood to Larne route ended on 24 December 2010.

On 21 November 2011, 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.

On 26 February 2014 it was announced that Stena Line would acquire the Celtic Link ferry service from Rosslare to Cherbourg, France.^[9]

A joint venture with Hyundai Glovis has been announced and approved by the European Commission in February 2019, 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.^[10]

On 14 March 2020, 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.

Routes[]

Irish Sea[]

• Fishguard – Rosslare: Stena Europe
• Holyhead – Dublin Port: Stena Adventurer, Stena Estrid
• Belfast – Cairnryan: Stena Superfast VII, Stena Superfast VIII
• Belfast – Heysham: Stena Hibernia, Stena Scotia
• Belfast – Birkenhead: Stena Edda, Stena Embla,
• Cherbourg – Rosslare: Stena Horizon,

North Sea[]

• Hook of Holland – Harwich: Stena Britannica, Stena Hollandica
• Hook of Holland – North Killingholme Haven: Stena Transit, Stena Transporter
• Rotterdam – Harwich: Somerset, Stena Forerunnner
• Rotterdam – North Killingholme Haven: POL Maris, Hatche/POL Stella
• Rotterdam – Immingham (from 2022): Jutlandia Sea, Fiona Sea

Scandinavia, Poland and Germany[]

• Gothenburg – Frederikshavn: Stena Jutlandica, Stena Danica,
• Halmstad – Grenå: Stena Nautica
• Gothenburg – Kiel: Stena Germanica, Stena Scandinavica
• Oslo – Fredrikshavn: Stena Saga - Closed 19 March 2020
• Karlskrona – Gdynia: Stena Spirit, Stena Vision, Stena Nordica
• Nynäshamn – Ventspils: Stena Scandica, Stena Baltica (from February 2022), (until February 2022)
• Trelleborg – Rostock: Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Skåne
• Nynäshamn - Hanko: Urd^{[disambiguation needed]}, (from 1 May 2022)
• Travemünde – Liepāja: , Stena Livia, (from February 2022)

Fleet[]

Current ships[]

Name	Built	Gross Tonnage	Passengers	Notes	Images
Stena Adventurer	2003	43,532	1,500
Stena Baltica (formerly Stena Mersey)	2005	26,500 (as built)	980	Lengthened in 2020.
Stena Britannica	2010	63,039	1,200
Stena Danica	1983	15,899	2,300
Stena Edda	2019	41,671	927	The second E-Flexer Class ship for Stena Line.
Stena Embla	2020	41,671	927	The third E-Flexer Class ship for Stena Line.
Stena Estrid	2019	40,500	927	The first E-Flexer Class ship for Stena Line.
Stena Europe	1981	24,828	1,400
	2008	26,904	830
	2003		12
	2003		12
	2003	24,688	12
Stena Germanica	2001	51,837 [11]	1,300
	1981/91/93/2001	13,294	186
Hatche/POL Stella	2009	29,004	12
Stena Hibernia	1996	13,017	12
Stena Hollandica	2010	63,039	1,200
Stena Horizon	2006	27,552	972
Stena Jutlandica	1996	29,691	1,500
Stena Livia	2008	26,904	880
Stena Nautica	1986	11,763	663
Stena Nordica	2000	24,206	405
	2009	29,904	12
Stena Scandica (formerly Stena Lagan)	2005	26,500 (as built)	980	Lengthened in 2021.
Stena Scandinavica	2003	55,050	900
Stena Scotia	1996	13,600	12
Stena Spirit	1988	39,193	1,700
Stena Superfast VII	2001	30,285	1,200	Stena took ownership from Tallink in December 2017.
Stena Superfast VIII	2001	30,285	1,200	Stena took ownership from Tallink in December 2017.
Stena Transit	2011	33,690	300
Stena Transporter	2011	33,690	300
Stena Vision	1981	39,178	1,700
Skane	1998	28,960	600
(formerly Spaarneborg)	1999		12
	2005		400
	1981	11,030	186
Seatruck Panorama	2009	5,193
	1996	37,987	600
Fiona Sea	2009		12
Jutlandia Sea	2010		12

Future fleet[]

Stena has five vessels of the E-Flexer class on order, with the first scheduled for delivery in early 2020.^[12][13] The first ship of the new series was named Stena Estrid. After her trials, she has commenced service on 13 January 2020, on the route Dublin - Holyhead.

Gallery[]

• 

  Stena Traveller at the Hook of Holland

• 

  Stena Traveller at the Hook of Holland

See also[]

• Stena Line Holland BV
• P&O Stena Line
• Hyundai Glovis

References[]

Notes[]

Bibliography[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stena Line.

• Stena Line – Corporate site
• Stena Line Reservations – UK online ticket reservations and home pages
• Stena Line Reservations – Swedish online ticket reservations and home pages
• Stena Line Reservations – Czech online ticket reservations and home pages