Stena Line Ferries News

Storm Barra: The historic breakwater at the north Wales port has been badly hit by Storm Arwen and Storm Barra. Afloat adds the Holyhead Port Authority is operated by Stena Line Ports.

Holyhead Breakwater: Stena Close after Battering from Storms Leaves Too Unsafe for Public Access

13th December 2021 Stena Line

The Port of Holyhead's breakwater has been closed by Stena after recent storms have left it too unsafe for public access. The historic breakwater - that protects Holyhead port - has been badly hit by Storm Arwen and Storm Barra.…

Stena Line in early 2022 is to launch into the Finnish market with a new Baltic Sea linking Swedan using Urd, a former Irish Sea freight ferry that served the Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead route. The Italian built freighter was the largest ever to serve the Ireland-Wales route when supporting the passenger car ferry St. Columba which too is in the news as the stalwart having served almost 20 years latterly with Stena until 1996, has finally gone to the shipbreakers in Pakistan last month.

Swedish Operator Stena Line to Enter Finnish Market With Former Irish Sea Freight Ferry

9th December 2021 Stena Line

Another Finnish port in the news (see story) involves Hanko from where Stena Line is to enter the Nordic state's market with a new Baltic Sea route to Nynäshamn in Sweden, the operator's homecountry, writes Jehan Ashmore. The new Sweden-Finland route…

Brexit Impact: The ferry firm said that trade between Wales and Ireland is around 30% down on previous years. Above Stena Europe berthed at Fishguard in south Wales which links Rosslare.

Operator Stena Line Remains 'Committed' to Welsh Ports Despite Brexit Slump in Freight Trade

3rd December 2021 Stena Line

Ferry firm Stena Line says its remains "committed" to Holyhead and Fishguard ports despite a slump in trade after Brexit. As BusinessLive reports, the UK's exit from the EU has seen trade diverted away from both the ports - with…

Decade at Cairnryan; Stena Line Superfast VIII OSS crew Caitlan Nicholl (left) Morgan Cowan (right) joined Paul Grant (Trade Director) and Senior Master Steve Millar on board the Bridge of Superfast VIII to mark (today’s Sun. 21 Nov) the 10th anniversary of Stena Line’s relocation of Scottish port, from Stranrear to nearby Cairnryan Port back in 2011. Since then, the North Channel route has enjoyed a number of notable milestones including transporting over 11.1m passengers, 2.6m cars, 1.9m freight units during 40,747 sailings.

Relocation of Stena Line's Scottish Ferryport A Decade Ago to Cairnryan Port Delivers Record Volumes

21st November 2021 Stena Line

Stena Line mark’s the 10th anniversary today (21 Nov.) of the opening of its Loch Ryan Port facility at Cairnryan, Scotland and the introduction of two new ‘Superfast’ vessels which heralded the start of its then new Belfast-Cairnryan service back…

Shortage of skilled seafarers in the shipping sector due to Brexit and Pandemic, requires women to take up a career says Stena Line. Among them is Captain Lynette Bryson, Master of the Stena Adventurer on the Dublin-Holyhead route. The Ireland-Wales link is also operated by Stena Estrid.

Women Are the Answer Says Stena Line to the Jobs Crisis in the Shipping Sector

6th October 2021 Stena Line

Stena Line believes that if the shipping industry is going to solve its jobs’ crisis due to Brexit and the Pandemic, there is a simple solution; it urgently needs to encourage more women to work in careers at sea, in…

The Stena Superfast VIII launched its fast rescue craft

Stena Ferry Assists Four in Danger on Yacht off Loch Ryan

3rd October 2021 Ferry

In the early evening of Saturday, 2nd October, Belfast Coastguard put out a MAYDAY in response to a 20ft yacht with four people on board reportedly taking on water and without power, a mile north of Corsewall Point, at the…

Stena Estrid enters Dublin Port on her maiden voyage in January 2020

Duty-Free Boost Helping Ferry Giant Stena Get Back on Course

29th September 2021 Stena Line

Duty-free shopping is making a big impact as it proves popular with passengers once again on routes between Ireland and Wales. Early sales figures show the huge potential it has to help the travel sector bounce back after the pandemic.…

At just shy of 240-meters each in length, two 'E-Flexer' (MkII) ro-pax class ferries designed in collaboration with Stena RoRo and under construction at the CMI Jinling Shipyard in Weihai, China, are expected to be delivered to the Baltic Sea during 2022. The newbuilds are larger versions of their Irish Sea counterparts currently serving between Belfast-Birkenhead (Liverpool) and Dublin-Holyhead.

'E-Flexer' Class Ferries to Join Stena Line’s Baltic Sea Fleet Next Year

27th September 2021 Stena Line

Stena Line which operates three of their 'E-Flexer' ro-pax class ferries on the Irish Sea, is to continue its expansion on the Baltic Sea during 2022, increasing both freight-and passenger capacity with larger versions of the new class. The Swedish…

Stena Line in Scandinavia on their Gothenburg(Sweden)-Fredrikshamn (Denmark) route is to introduce before 2030 the world's first fossil-free ferries of its kind

Stena Line and Danish Port Make Historic Agreement on Fossil-Free Ferries Before 2030

23rd September 2021 Stena Line

Stena Line, the Danish Port of Fredrikshamn and the Fredrikshamn Municipality recently signed an historic agreement, to take their share of responsibility for the Gothenburg-Fredrikshamn route to become the world's first fossil-free ferry line of its kind. The agreement on…

At the north Wales ferry port of Holyhead, Afloat adds operated by Stena, is also where another Swedish company, the travel retailer R&F has opened 'probably' the world's smallest border shop!

Port of Holyhead Home to 'World's Smallest' Duty-Free Border Store Opens In Shipping Container

21st September 2021 Stena Line

According to NorthWalesLive, the Port of Holyhead, the "world's smallest" border duty free store has opened using the inside of a shipping container. Irish daytrippers were a regular sight on the streets of Holyhead during the 1980s and 90s, with…

Ferry sailings on Stena Line's Cairnryan-Belfast route have resumed following an earlier positive test by a crew member. Above one of the North Channel route's pair of 'Superfast' ferries.

Ferry Sailings Operated by Stena Line Resume after Covid Cancellations

10th September 2021 Stena Line

Ferry services run by Stena Line have resumed between Scotland and Northern Ireland, which were earlier disrupted due to a positive Covid-19 test among its crew. One crew member on the Cairnryan to Larne ferry received a positive result from a…

Only one Stena Line ferry is affected but four sailings on the Cairnryan-Belfast route were cancelled. Above AFLOAT adds a Stena 'Superfast' ferry on Loch Ryan, Scotland.

Sailings On Stena Scotland Service Cancelled after Positive Covid Test

9th September 2021 Stena Line

Operator Stena Line cancelled four of its ferry sailings between Scotland and Northern Ireland after one crew member tested positive for Covid-19. Its 19:30 BST departure from Cairnryan and 23:30 BST departure from Belfast were cancelled on Wednesday. On Thursday,…

Port of Holyhead on Anglesey, north Wales where above is how the breakwater would look after the repair work was completed. The pier is the longest breakwater in Europe, with the Grade II listed structure measuring 1.7 miles long. Stena Line has previously warned that a failure could eventually result in the closure of the port and the loss of the international link between Ireland and Wales.

Operator of Holyhead, Stena Line Ports Submits Plan to Save Crumbling Breakwater

24th August 2021 Stena Line

At the Port of Holyhead, operated by Stena Line Ports which has revealed plans for major repair works to Europe’s longest breakwater, which includes changing its appearance to ensure it continues to protect the north Wales town. The ferry port and…

Quarantine restrictions in the UK were lifted (yesterday, 2 Aug.) for fully-vaccinated EU and US passengers. Above AFLOAT's photo of Stena Britannia, (outward bound off Harwich), is one of pair of giant 63,500gt ferries that operates Stena Line's only 'combined passenger & freight' route connecting the UK and mainland Europe through the Dutch port of Hook van Holland. The North Sea route also acts as a UK 'landbridge' for trade travelling between Ireland and Europe and beyond, where in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea, Stena operate a more larger route network.

UK North Sea Port of Harwich to Benefit from Tourism Influx in Updated Restrictions

3rd August 2021 Stena Line

In the UK, the North Sea ferry and cruise port of Harwich is set to benefit from an influx of tourists after quarantine restrictions were lifted (yesterday) for fully-vaccinated passengers arriving from amber countries in Europe and the USA. It comes as…

Stena Scandica is 222m long and has a capacity of 200 cabins

Stena Line’s New Ferry Stena Scandica Completes its Maiden Voyage

27th July 2021 Stena Line

Continuing the strengthening and expansion of its services in the Baltic Sea, Swedish ferry company Stena Line is deploying two new large and modern ferries on the route between Ventspils in Latvia and Nynäshamn in Sweden this year. The first…

The Stena Fuel Pilot started as a pilot study on Stena Scandinavica on the Gothenburg-Kiel route back in 2018 with the task to investigate and explore how artificial intelligence can be used to support the captains and crews onboard to save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions

Stena Line Aim to Reduce Emissions by 5% Using AI

9th July 2021 Stena Line

During the last month, the AI assistant Stena Fuel Pilot has been successfully introduced on two more Stena Line vessels, Stena Flavia and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In total, 7 Stena Line vessels now operate with AI assistance, with the aim to reduce…