Former Stena Line ferry yet to be renamed
Stena’s former Dublin – Holyhead ferry STENA SUPERFAST X left Greece for France on Tuesday following a three month long spell at a shipyard in Perama. The 2002-built Ro-Pax ferry has been converted back to a night ferry and had exhaust gas scrubbers fitted. The ship, which is still carrying her Stena Line name despite having been repainted, is expected to arrive in Marseille tomorrow morning. She will be renamed A NEPITA and transferred to the French flag after arrival in France according to Shippax. STENA SUPERFAST X is presently sailing under the Cypriot flag having moved from the UK registry in March. As previously reported, Corsica Linea are to take the ship on a long term charter from Stena RoRo.
New look
In a change to the original plan, A NEPITA will add additional capacity to the routes from Marseille to Bastia and Ajaccio until September. Previously it had been announced she would sail between Marseille and Algeria. COVID-19 means that there is no longer sufficient demand on that route due to travel restrictions. Over 100 new cabins have been installed during the refit in Greece. This takes the ships complement to 173, a little short of the 195 cabins the ship was originally built with. The majority of the original cabins had been ripped out when the ship was purchased by SeaFrance and converted to a day ferry in 2008. A reclining seat lounge has been added for Corsica Linea service. This provides a sleeping option for overnight passengers who do not want a cabin. Exhaust gas scrubbers were also fitted at Perama and the ship was repainted in Corsica Linea’s bold red and white livery.
Return to the Med
The charter of STENA SUPERFAST X sees the ship return to the Mediterranean 13 years after she was purchased and quickly resold by Corsica Linea’s predecessor company, SNCM. Having been renamed JEAN NICOLI she would be sold to SeaFrance at the end of 2007 after two brief charters to COTUNAV and ANEK Lines. SeaFrance converted JEAN NICOLI to a day ferry by removing over 100 cabins on deck 8 and replacing them with public spaces. In addition technical work was undertaken to make her more suitable for SeaFrance’s Dover-Calais route. Renamed SEAFRANCE MOLIERE, she would stay with SeaFrance until that company collapsed in 2011. The following year she was chartered to DFDS who renamed her DIEPPE SEAWAYS for their own Dover-Calais route.
In early 2014 DIEPPE SEAWAYS was purchased by Stena RoRo, with the charter to DFDS not extended at the end of November. Following a refit in Gdynia, she entered service for Stena Line between Holyhead and Dublin during March 2015 named STENA SUPERFAST X. STENA SUPERFAST X was replaced at Holyhead by STENA ESTRID during January 2020. After serving as a relief vessel on Stena Line’s Irish Sea routes she left Belfast for Greece on March 3rd 2020.