Articles involving the now defunct ferry operator Sealink Stena Line, the predecessor to Stena Sealink Line and successor of Sealink British Ferries.
One-time Sealink crew member, Patrick Heard, visited the former ST CHRISTOPHER / STENA ANTRIM on her new route between Italy and Albania recently. In this article we share some of his photos and an update on the second Sealink ‘Saint’ that has been given a new lease of life.
Ferry photographer and writer, Matt Davies took a trip on the first of the four near-sisters built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for Sealink. In this article we share some of his photos and take a look at the first Sealink ‘Saint’ to be given a new lease of life in recent times.
With Stena Nordica joining the Fishguard to Rosslare service this summer, we take a look back at some of the previous Ro-Ro ferries to serve the route.
Former Sealink / Stena Line Ferry Beached in Pakistan.
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The former ST COLUMBA and STENA HIBERNIA of Sealink / Stena Line’s Holyhead – Dun Laoghaire route was beached in Pakistan earlier.
25 years after Sealink became Stena Line, we take a brief look at the changes that have occurred in Stena Line Uk & Ireland’s first quarter century.
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.
NI Ferry Site has learned that IBN BATOUTA, the former STENA ANTRIM and ST CHRISTOPHER which hasn’t seen service for 6 years, is currently under tow from Durres in Albania to Turkey. At present it is uncertain whether the former North Channel and English Channel favourite is to be refurbished or scrapped.
Reports from Spain indicate that former North Channel favourite, Le Rif (ex Stena Galloway, Galloway Princess) has yet to enter the Andalucia dry dock at Cernaval’s Mario Lopez shipyard in Malaga, despite it being a month since her arrival in the Spanish port.  It appears that the delay has been due to the ship requiring more work than previously thought to prepare her for entering the dry-dock for a €2.5m refurbishment concentrating mostly on her hull and mechanicals.  It is understood that onboard power is currently being provided by a generator on the dock side. With the above in mind, and the fact that the ship will need to be re-certified by the appropriate authorities, it is very unlikely that Le Rif will enter service before the end of 2016.  Reports on local sites last week suggested Le Rif was to enter the dry-dock before the end of August, but at the time of writing, her … Read more
Majority of Stena Line Irish Sea fleet to visit Harland and Wolff in early 2016. As previously speculated, Stena Flavia will be the designated refit cover vessel for Stena Line’s Irish Sea refits in 2016.  Stena Flavia will leave the Baltic on 09/1/16 for Rosslare to take up service to Cherbourg from 14/1/16 until 8/3/16 in place of Stena Horizon.  Gothenburg to Frederikshavn vessel Stena Gothica is believed to be planned to cover for Stena Flavia in her absence.  The former Celtic Link vessel Stena Horizon will visit Harland and Wolff from 14/1/16 to 28/1/16, after which she will cover the Dublin to Holyhead route until approximately 7/3/16. On Stena Horizon‘s arrival at Dublin, Stena Superfast X will have an in water survey from 28/1/16 until 30/1/16.  She will then leave for Belfast to cover the refits of Stena Superfast VIII and VII, returning to Holyhead on 16/2/16 and onto Stena … Read more
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
Profile of the Baleà ria ferry POETA LÓPEZ ANGLADA, the former STENA NAVIGATOR. Includes an overview of her history, technical data, deck plans, and photographs.
Could further service beckon for Ibn Batouta? The Ibn Batouta (ex St Christopher, Stena Antrim) left the port of Algeciras under the tow of the tug Brucoli on Tuesday, having been helped from the position she was occupying in the port by local tugs VB Twenty and VB Algeciras. Her apparent destination is Durres in Albania. Ibn Batouta had been sold at auction earlier this year for just €1,027,000, having been laid up since Janurary 2012 following the collapse of the COMARIT group (of which her operator COMANAV was a part).  It is believed that Ibn Batouta may be the only one of the group of 4 COMARIT group ferries which have left Algeciras in the past few weeks not purchased for breaking, with the purchaser rumoured to have been the owner of the Italy-Albania ferry Red Star 1 (1965).  Bari (ex St Anslem, Stena Cambria, Isla de Botafoc), a sister ship of the … Read more
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