Stena Line is celebrating winning the ‘Best Ferry Company’ category at the Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards for the 30th time.
The awards event is the highlight of the Northern Ireland tourism industry year and was held on 13 October.
In the 31-year history of the awards, there is only one occasion when Stena Line and predecessor Stena Sealink Line didn’t win the award. This was when P&O Ferries had a one-off success in the mid-1990s.
The event, organised by NI Travel News, was held at the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa and was attended by travel industry VIPs from across the UK and Ireland.
The award was presented to Orla Noonan, Stena Line’s Travel Commercial Manager (Irish Sea). Orla comments;
“We are once again honoured to accept this prestigious accolade. At Stena Line we are dedicated to providing the best travel experience for our customers. To win this award for the 30th time is an incredible achievement and a testament to our dedicated team and the quality of the service they deliver all year round.
“We are appreciative of the travel trade and tourism industry leaders for recognising our ongoing commitment to excellence and will continue to focus on offering our customers the best ferry service available on the Irish Sea”
Stena Line Press Release 16 October 2023
Achievement for senior Stena leader
Stena Line’s Irish Sea Trade Director, Paul Grant was also honoured at the event. He was presented with the Northern Ireland Travel Industry Award for being “a constant presence at the helm of the company during a period of unprecedented success over the last 3 decades.” Having joined the company when still a student, Mr Grant is now responsible for all Stena Line operations on the island of Ireland.
Stena Line is the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, with the biggest fleet providing up to 238 weekly sailings offering the widest choice of routes including: combined passenger and freight services from Belfast to Cairnryan and Liverpool, Dublin to Holyhead, and Rosslare to Fishguard in addition to Rosslare to Cherbourg. The company also runs a dedicated freight only route from Belfast to Heysham.
Stena Line has also expressed an interest in operating a Birkenhead – Dublin route. This follows the news that P&O Ferries will close their Liverpool – Dublin route and a tendering exercise by Dublin Port.
Stena Line has had another exciting year on the Irish Sea. On the Fishguard – Rosslare route, STENA NORDICA replaced the veteran STENA EUROPE, bringing a more modern and reliable travel experience. Meanwhile on the Rosslare – Cherbourg route, the cruiseferry STENA VISION replaced the RoRo SEATRUCK PANORAMA, dramatically improving the customer experience on the route. This has proved a commercial success with record carryings achieved in summer 2023.
Stena Line is one of Europe’s leading ferry companies transporting 6 million passengers with 38 vessels across 17 routes in Northern Europe operating 25,000 sailings each year. Aside from the Irish Sea operation, Stena Line operates 4 routes on the North Sea with a passenger and freight route from Harwich to Hoek van Holland and freight services from Rotterdam to Harwich and Immingham and Hoek van Holland to Killingholme. In Scandinavia there are RoPax operations from Gothenburg to Frederikshavn and Kiel, Halmstad to Grenaa and Trelleborg to Rostock. Finally in the Baltic Sea there are RoPax routes from Gdynia to Karlskrona, Nynäshamn to Ventspils and Travemünde to Liepāja.
