Stena Line – 25 Years in Belfast: Cairnryan, Heysham, and Birkenhead
In the second of today’s features celebrating 25 years of Stena Line in Belfast, we take a look at developments from 2010 onwards.
STRAIT FERONIA (ex STENA FERONIA / DUBLIN SEAWAYS /DUBLIN VIKING /MERSEY VIKING (i)) imo: 9136022
Former ferries of NI Pt.3: Seatruck, Merchant Ferries, Norse Irish, DFDS, and other NI to England operators
Take a look back at some of the ferries which have operated to NI. In part 3 we take a look at some of the ferries of Merchant Ferries, Norse Irish Ferries, Belfast Car Ferries, Belfast Freight Ferries, Norfolk Line, DFDS, and Seatruck.
Former ferries of NI Part 1: From Sealink to Stena Line
A photographic look back at some of the ferries which have operated to or within Northern Ireland, including those which operated both for present operators and those which no longer exist. This first part looks at Sealink, Sealink Stena, Stena Sealink, and Stena Line.
Gone but not forgotten: NORSE LAGAN
Profile of the former Belfast to Liverpool ferry NORSE LAGAN. Includes an overview of her history, technical specifications, and photographs.
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
Former Belfast-Liverpool ferry prepares for a life in New Zealand
Former Irish Sea ro-pax Stena Feronia (ex Dublin Seaways, Dublin Viking, Mersey Viking) has been renamed STRAIT FERONIAÂ and adopted the New Zealand flag. She is currently in dry dock at Landskrona being prepared for a new life in the Southern Hemisphere operating for New Zealand company Strait Shipping under their Blue Bridge brand. STRAIT FERONIA was of course built for the Belfast – Liverpool service as one of the two lead vessels of the Visentini ro-pax series, and was sold by owners Stena Line last in January to Strait Shipping. She is expected to enter service in July this year on the Cook Strait service, replacing current ship Santa Regina. In a twist of fate, the former Stena Feronia will be competing directly with former Irish Sea fleet mate Stena Alegra, which operated the Dublin to Liverpool service as Dawn Merchant for Merchant Ferries and Norse Merchant Ferries. She has been … Read more
Stena ISN refits almost complete
The return of Stena Superfast VIII to service yesterday afternoon saw the completion of the 6th refit in Stena’s Irish Sea North refit schedule.  Stena Performer, Stena Mersey , Stena Lagan, Stena Hibernia, Stena  Superfast VII, and Stena Superfast VIII have all been refitted since November of last year.  Stena Precision will refit in April, meaning all 7 local vessels have been refitted in 5 months.  All of the refits have been completed by Belfast yard Harland & Wolff with the exception of Stena Lagan (which visited A&P Falmouth instead), in what is a £6 million pound investment by Stena Line. The refit of Stena Superfast VII and VIII was covered by Stena Nordica, which herself was displaced by the arrival of Stena Superfast X on the Dublin – Holyhead route.  Stena Nordica is currently laying over at D1 in Belfast having transferred her crew and stores back to Stena … Read more
Stena Line latest
All Stena sailings to and from Cairnryan from this mornings 07:30 departures have been cancelled due to an incident involving the berth at Cairnryan and Stena Superfast VII (according to the Stena UK& IE twitter account). Tomorrows sailings until the 23:30 are also cancelled – the 23:30 will operate subject to repairs having been carried out in time. Adverse weather is also causing problems with the Birkenhead route, with AIS indicating that Stena Mersey is still in Birkenhead, Stena Feronia is in the Mersey (so no ship in Belfast to operate tonights departure it would seem), Stena Hibernia is also well on her way, and Stena Precision left Belfast tonight with a destination of Birkenhead. It looks like theres nothing Stena wise leaving Belfast tonight. Passengers are advised to call Stena on +44 (0) 8705 755 755 for the latest updates and information. EDIT:  Stena Mersey has just left Birkenhead for … Read more
Stena line Belfast to Liverpool sailing update
Tonight’s departure ex Birkenhead is cancelled. One assumes this is due to Stena Feronia doing a tour of the North Welsh coast at present! The Belfast departure is leaving 30 mins early, I assume due to the weather. Â As always, please check with Stena directly for the latest sailing information.
Feronia watch: Update
Stena Feronia‘s sailings today have been cancelled, I assume to address the technical issues which have plagued her since entering service in place of Stena Mersey on the Belfast – Birkenhead run. She is currently at anchor off Liverpool and scheduled to depart Birkenhead early tomorrow morning according to Stena’s Ferrycheck website. Picture:  Stena Feronia at Belfast on 16th November 2014, preparing to enter service covering for the routine dry-docking of the regular Belfast – Birkenhead ships Stena Mersey and Stena Lagan.  Copyright © 2014 Scott Mackey
Stena Feronia issues
Birkenhead relief vessel Stena Feronia has been experiencing some issues, with Heysham ship Stena Precision switching with the Birkenhead freight vessel Stena Hibernia to clear a backlog of unaccompanied freight which is believed to have built up as a result.
Stena Feronia due to enter service
Stena Feronia is expected to enter into service on Thursday operating the 10:30 sailing ex Belfast, freeing up the currently inbound Stena Mersey to visit the dry dock at Harland and Wolff. On Mersey’s return to service, Feronia will substitute for Stena Lagan so she can visit A&P at Falmouth. Stena’s online booking engine indicates that ‘Lagan’s’ last sailing will be the 10:30 on the 3rd of December ex Birkenhead with Stena Mersey taking over her schedule from then onwards (22:30 ex Belfast on the 3rd) with Feronia staying on the same roster. According to the booking engine (at time of writing) there is no space available for passengers on Stena Feronia until Saturday ex Belfast and next Tuesday ex Birkenhead. Photograph © Scott Mackey.
