Stena Line – 25 Years in Belfast: The Stranraer years
Twenty five years after Stena Line relocated from Larne to Belfast, we take a look at the ships which served the Belfast – Stranraer route.
HSS DISCOVERY (ex HSS STENA DISCOVERY)
Stena Europe | Stena Line
Stena Line’s Stena Europe is a Swedish-built multipurpose ferry which normally serves the route between Fishguard and Rosslare.
Update: HSS Stena Explorer’s final Holyhead departure delayed
Poor weather conditions delay Stena Explorer’s final Irish Sea voyage. HSS Stena Explorer‘s final departure from Holyhead, which was due to take place this afternoon, appears to have been delayed due to unfavourable weather conditions. It is now expected that the vessel will be towed from the port over the weekend, probably on Sunday. Work appears to be continuing on HSS Stena Explorer, now renamed One World Karadeniz, to prepare her for the long tow to Turkey, where it is thought she will be converted for static use.  HSS Stena Explorer is the last remaining member of Stena’s ground breaking HSS 1500 class. Title image: HSS Explorer passing HSS Voyager, which is at Harland and Wolff’s ship repair quay.  Stena Discovery is just just visible under the massive yellow “samson” crane in the background.  Copyright © Alan Geddes.
Official: HSS Stena Explorer due to leave Holyhead tomorrow
Final HSS 1500 craft Stena Explorer sold for future use. Stena Line have officially confirmed that the final HSS 1500 vessel, Stena Explorer, has been sold to Turkish buyers and is due to leave Holyhead for the last time tomorrow, weather permitting, under the escort of tugs. Stena have however not confirmed what Stena Explorer’s future use will be, though they have said that she will continue her career under new ownership. The anchor handling tug Bluster arrived in Holyhead earlier this week, with the task to tow Stena Explorer to Turkey. Another tug, Afon Cefni, arrived in Holyhead this morning. It is assumed she may assist Bluster and Holyhead’s own tug St David in manoeuvring HSS Stena Explorer from her berth in Holyhead. HSC Specialists Maatsuyker have said (via twitter earlier this week) that her future use is to be static in Istanbul, it is assumed that this will be for … Read more
HSS Stena Explorer latest: Tug Bluster expected in Holyhead this evening.
![Stena Explorer docking in Dun Laoghaire. By StenaLine-StenaExplorer-DunLoaghaire-2008-04-07_5.jpg: Benjamin.nagel derivative work: Wexcan  Talk [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://www.niferry.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/HSS_Stena_Explorer_in_Dun_Laoghaire.webp)
It has been confirmed that the anchor handling tug, Bluster, is expected to arrive in Holyhead this evening, with the task of towing the remaining Stena HSS 1500 vessel Stena Explorer to Turkey. Speculation as to what future awaits the vessel has been rife online, with some expectant that the vessel will proceed straight to scrapping at Aliaga, rather than to Istanbul for conversion to static use as previously announced. No departure date for the remaining HSS 1500 vessel has been announced, however it is expected that she will leave Holyhead for the last time in the near future. It is known that HSS Stena Explorer‘s engines have been started regularly, and it is expected that she may move under her own power one last time, in order to leave her inner harbour berth at Holyhead before being towed by the Dutch tug Bluster the rest of the way to Turkey. HSS Stena Explorer was … Read more
HSS Stena Explorer sold for static use
Former Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead ferry HSS Stena Explorer reportedly sold to Turkey. Brokerage and HSC specialists Maatsuyker this morning reported via twitter that Stena’s HSS Stena Explorer has been sold for static use in Istanbul, Turkey. Stena Explorer was of course the first of 3 HSS1500 class craft built by Aker Finnyards for Stena Line, and is the sole survivor of the class. Her sisters, Stena Voyager (which previously operated Belfast – Stranraer), and Stena Discovery (which originally operated Harwich – Hoek van Holland, and latterly named HSS Discovery) have already been “recycled” in Sweden and Turkey respectively.  All 3 HSS1500 class have been regular visitors to Belfast in the past, with Harland & Wolff appointed as the sole dry-docking facility for the class. End of an era today as the surviving HSS 1500, Stena Explorer, is sold. — Maatsuyker HSC (@MaatsuykerHsc) October 23, 2015 HSS Stena Explorer has been laid up in Holyhead … Read more
