STENA MERSEY (ex MERSEY SEAWAYS / MERSEY VIKING (ii)) imo: 9136022
Stena Line Dry Dock update / temporary timetable change
Stena Performer entered Harland and Wolff’s Belfast Dry Dock this morning, re-commencing Stena Line’s Irish Sea refit program for 2017. Sister-ship Stena Precision will follow once Stena Performer has finished. Stena Precision is due back in service on the 2nd of May so I assume Performer will not dry dock until around the 20th. Birkenhead service timetable change For the duration of this final dry dock period, there will be no Belfast to Birkenhead freight shoulder service.  However, Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey will operate a full timetable of 2 daily sailings each way. This includes on Mondays when normally there is only one sailing each way with the vessels laying over in the morning/afternoon.  Stena Hibernia will work the Belfast-Heysham freight service opposite whichever of the 2 FSG sister ships is not in dry dock for the duration. Title image: Stena Performer in drydock April 2017.  Copyright © Scott Mackey. ... Read more
Stena Horizon to arrive in the morning.
Stena Horizon to cover Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey on Birkenhead route. Stena Horizon left Rosslare bound for Belfast this evening, with arrival expected at around 9am tomorrow morning. She is expected to take up service on Wednesday evening, replacing Stena Lagan which will make the short journey across the river to Belfast Dry Dock for refit.  In the meantime, Stena Horizon looks set to be berthed at the Ship Repair Quay from Tuesday morning to Wednesday evening. NB: The above is taken from Marine Traffic and the Belfast Harbour website, and is of course subject to change! Stena Europe arrived in Rosslare earlier today, and is scheduled to return to service with the 09:00 sailing to Fishguard on Tuesday.  This will release Stena Nordica to operate the overnight sailing to Cherbourg in lieu of Stena Horizon which will be in Belfast covering Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey. Title image:  Stena Horizon arrives at Belfast for her 2016 dry-docking. ... Read more
In strange waters #2: Stena Line Irish Sea dry docking’s/refits 2017.
This page will be continually updated throughout the refit period which is expected to run until May 2017. Last years “in strange waters” can be found here. Please note that due to the nature of their content, both pages are very heavy in photographic material and may take a while to load on slower connections. Â The second part of this year’s feature can be found here. This year Stena Line will complete all Irish Sea dry docking’s at Belfast’s Harland and Wolff shipyard, that’s a total of 9 ships from the fleet of 11. At the end of 2016 Stena announced that the entire fleet would be receiving the latest livery and strap-line “Connecting Europe for a Sustainable Future” during their scheduled dry docking’s, in a style similar to that applied to Stena Britannica recently. This replaces the previous “Making Good Time” strap-line. (Title image: Stena Europe in Rosslare displaying the ... Read more
Stena Line refit update 2016.
Refit cover to provided by Baltic Sea vessel. NIFS understand Stena Flavia (ex Watling Street) has been nominated as the refit cover vessel for the Irish Sea January to March 2016. It is believed she will cover for Stena Horizon (ex Celtic Horizon) at Rosslare before covering for Stena Superfast X (formerly Dieppe Seaways, SeaFrance Moliere, Jean Nicoli, etc) and Stena Adventurer at Holyhead. Stena Superfast X will provide refit relief for her north channel sisters, Stena Superfast VII and VIII, giving Belfast to Cairnryan (Loch Ryan Port) passengers the opportunity to sample a very different Superfast vessel to those regularly on the run. Stena Flavia is of course a part-sister to Stena Lagan, Stena Mersey, Stena Horizon, and Irish Ferries Epsilon. It is understood that Stena Flavia will be covered on her Travemunde to Ventspils route by Gothenburg – Fredrikshavn regular Stena Gothica (ex Ask, Seafreight Freeway, etc), with that service continuing to operate with ... 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
Site news and updates for end of June 2015
News Im delighted to be able to announce that Alan Geddes has agreed that his photographs may be used on NIFerrySite. Alan’s photographs are mainly taken within the Belfast harbour area, and often from an elevated position, giving them a perspective not often seen elsewhere. Alan’s photographs will continue to be added to many of the profiles (and also the former ferries photo feature) in the coming weeks – a number have already been added. In the meantime, why not check out Alan’s Flickr page. Don’t forget you can also find links to the flickr accounts (where applicable) of the other photographers featured on this site on the links page. New ferries added The following vessel profiles which where added recently, have had technical data, photographs, and some history added: Seacat Scotland Seacat Danmark The Seacat Isle of Man/Snaefell and Hoverspeed Great Britain pages should be finished in the coming week. Changes to ... 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