Belfast to Stranraer
The Belfast to Stranraer service was operated by Stena Line and for a brief period in 1995 by Stena Sealink Line after the Northern Irish port of the historic Larne to Stranraer ferry service was moved to Belfast ahead of the arrival of the new Stena HSS 1500 catamaran HSS STENA VOYAGER.
In 2011 the Scottish port was moved to a new purpose-built facility near Cairnryan called Loch Ryan Port, and the HSS was tied up awaiting sale.
Master Jet (ex Seacat Isle of Man / Snaefell)
The 2nd of Hoverspeed’s 5 74m “Seacat” car carrying catamarans was built by International Catamarans (InCat) in Australia and launched as Hoverspeed France on April 28th 1990.  Despite being hull number 26, she was launched some months before hull 23 (Seacat Tasmania), but 3 months after hull 25 (Hoverspeed Great Britain).  All 5 of these “SeaCat” vessels where built to the same “Mark 1” design and specification, with a further 4 built afterwards for other operators to modified specifications.  4 out of the 5 original 74m long Seacat’s would operate from Belfast over the years, with the only craft never to operate from the port being that launched as Seacat Tasmania. InCat 026, in common with the other original Hoverspeed ‘SeaCat’s’ was well-travelled over the years.  While initially she operated on Hoverspeed’s own English Channel services from July 1991, she was chartered out to Sardinia Express (and renamed Sardegna Express) the following June.  However, that charter ... Read more
PR (Stena): Stranraer Museum Recognises Stena Galloway Community Contribution
Captain Robin White and past crew members of the Stena Galloway, formerly the Galloway Princess ferry, which made the daily ferry crossing between Stranraer to Larne for over two decades, joined representative of Dumfries & Galloway Council at a special ceremony held at Stranraer Museum today (Wed 19th Oct). To mark the special link between the vessel and the town of Stranraer over many years, Stranraer Museum kindly agreed to put on permanent display the nameplate of a British Rail locomotive name in honour of the Stena Galloway, as a lasting reminder of the special bond that existed between the ship and the town and people of Stranraer. The British Rail engine was built in Crew and entered service in 1965 as Engine D1973. The locomotive engine spent most of its working life based in Scotland located at either Inverness or Eastfield in Glasgow. The locomotive engine was called the ... Read more
Stena in Belfast – Celebrating 20 years of Stena Line operating from Belfast.
20th anniversary of Stena Line switching the historic Larne – Stranraer service to Belfast. Today marks 20 years from the last sailing of what was then Stena Sealink Line, into the Port of Larne from Scotland, with tomorrow the anniversary of the first Stena ferry sailing from Belfast. Few could have predicted at the time that 20 years, and 2 bespoke Belfast-Scotland terminals later, Stena Line would also offer services from Belfast to Birkenhead and Heysham, as well as operating a pair of 203 metre long ferries to Scotland from Belfast. Just six weeks after the switch, on the 31st December 1995, the “Sealink” name would disappear altogether with all UK operations being rebranded as “Stena Line”. Of course, things have also changed dramatically at Larne. No longer Northern Ireland’s premier ferry port, Stena’s rise at Belfast has been somewhat mirrored by P&O’s decline at Larne. The services to Fleetwood and ... Read more