STENA SUPERFAST VIII (ex SUPERFAST VIII) imo: 9198953
STENA SUPERFAST VIII is one of two sister-ships which currently operate Stena Line’s Belfast to Cairnryan (Loch Ryan Port) service. She was completed in 2001 as SUPERFAST VIII for Attica Holdings’ Superfast Ferries subsidiary as the second vessel of the four ship Superfast VII series completed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel, Germany.
As-built her sister-ships are the current STENA SUPERFAST VII, ATLANTIC VISION, and STENA SUPERFAST X. Along with SUPERFAST VII, she was built specifically to operate Superfast Ferries’ new Baltic Sea service between Hanko (Finland) and Rostock (Germany), a service which was sold along with its vessels SUPERFAST VII-IX to Estonia’s Tallink in 2006 – just 5 years after it was established.
Since 2011 STENA SUPERFAST VIII has operated the Belfast – Cairnryan (Loch Ryan Port) route in tandem with her sister-ship STENA SUPERFAST VII after both ships were re-built for the route in Poland at a reported cost of €14m. Along with her sister and operating partner, STENA SUPERFAST VIII is the largest vessel to ever operate a ferry service between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
You can read more about STENA SUPERFAST VIII on her dedicated page here.