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.
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
Latest updates for June ’15
New ferries added The following vessel profiles 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 existing ferry posts The following vessel profiles have had material added or changed European Causeway/European Highlander (new photographs added and reformatted with headings) Stena Superfast VII/Stena Superfast VIII (reformatted, added headings, and updated to reflect the introduction of Stena Superfast X) Changes to pages and navigation Ferry routes and operators page rewritten due to a formatting issue on some browsers. New category added “NI Ferry Profiles (current)” and added to menu (filed under “The NI Ferry Fleet” to allow easier navigation to current ship profiles. Some minor changes to formatting have also been made to a number of the posts and pages on the site so that they appear better with ... 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
Site updates, week commencing 1st March
Good Evening everyone! I have added or updated the following this week Stena Superast VII/VIII profile text tidied up and updated for the arrival of their sister on the Dublin – Holyhead route. Deck plans added for P&O’s HSC Express. Stena Superfast VII/VIII side profile and deck plan’s improved. Belfast cruise schedule for 2015 uploaded. I’m also in the process of creating deck plan’s for the following: Stena Nordica, Stena Europe, Stena Lagan/Mersey, HSC Manannan, so will be quite busy over the coming weeks. Any copies or photos of deck plans would be very much appreciated. All who assist will be credited. Please use the contact link to submit anything. I have also trips planned on Stena Superfast VII and Stena Nordica over the coming weeks, and intend to add galleries for these ships. Stena Nordica is about to leave Stena Line for 18 months to operate for DFDS between ... Read more
Stena Superfast X en-route to Holyhead, Stena Nordica expected in Belfast soon
The latest addition to Stena Line’s Irish Sea fleet, Stena Superfast X (ex Dieppe Seaways, Seafrance Moliere, Jean Nicoli, Superfast X), is en-route to Holyhead from the Nauta shipyard in Poland following her conversion for service between Holyhead and Dublin Port. The sister ship to Stena Superfast VII and Stena Superfast VIII is expected to arrive in Wales by Thursday morning, and has already rounded the top of Scotland. It is expected that she will replace Stena Nordica in service before the end of next week, freeing up Stena Nordica to replace Stena Superfast VII so she can go for dry-docking at Harland & Wolff. Once this is completed, Stena Nordica will then relieve Stena Superfast VIII, which will then proceed to Harland and Wolff. Once Stena Superfast VIII returns to service, Stena Nordica is expected to transfer to DFDS, who plan to use her between Dover and Calais. 26th February: ... Read more
Storm Rachel afternoon/early evening update (NI), 15/1/15
Severe disruption to ferry services continues as storm Rachel continues to batter both the UK and Ireland. All Stena services to and from Cairnryan and Belfast are either cancelled or in doubt (see below), with both vessels shortly to be in Belfast – Stena Superfast VIII left Cairnryan at around 12:30 and is currently approaching Belfast Lough (at 14:10). The following is taken from Stena’s ferry check service. Ex Belfast Superfast VII 03:30 05:52 Cancelled Superfast VIII07:30 09:52 Cancelled Superfast VII 11:30 13:52 Cancelled Superfast VIII15:30 17:52 In Doubt Superfast VII 19:30 21:52 In Doubt Cancelled Superfast VIII23:30 01:52 Retimed to 21:30 Update 17:30: 1530 SAILING DELAYED APPROX 90 MINS. LATEST CHECK IN 1600. 1930 SAILING CANCELLED. PASSENGERS CAN TRANSFER TO THE RETIMED 2330 SAILING NOW DEPARTING AT 2130…LATEST CHECK IN 2100. Ex Cairnryan Superfast VIII04.00 06:45 Cancelled Superfast VII 07:30 09:45 Departed Superfast VIII11:30 13:45 Cancelled Superfast VII 15:30 ... Read more
Stena Line dry dock update
As of last weekend, four of Stena’s Irish Sea ships should have completed overhauls: Stena Performer, Stena Mersey, Stena Lagan and Stena Hibernia. Stena Hibernia had been expected to resume service to Liverpool (Birkenhead) at 15:00hrs on Monday, but is still at Harland & Wolff. Stena Precision is currently en-route from Birkenhead to Belfast so may well swap places with Hibernia after discharging in Belfast as she is the next vessel scheduled to visit Harland & Wolff. Stena Superfast VIII and then Stena Superfast VII are expected to visit Harland & Wolff in March with Stena Nordica providing cover on the North Channel service following being displaced on the Dublin – Holyhead route by Stena Superfast X. Of 7 ships a total of 6 have been/will be handled by Harland & Wolff – Stena Lagan being the exception as she went to A&P Falmouth in December as the H&W where busy handling ... Read more
Stena Line sailings to Cairnryan back on?
Following on from the update earlier today, this is the latest information from Stena Line Ex Belfast 12th Dec @ 0330am – passengers sent SMS and advised sailing @ 0230am & check-in no later than 0200am Ex Belfast 12th Dec @ 0730am – passengers sent SMS and advised sailing @ 0830am & check-in no later than 0730am Ex Belfast 12th Dec 1930 & 2330 to be confirmed later today and ex Cairnryan **** DUE TO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS AND BAD WEATHER OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS THE FOLLOWING TIMETABLE IS IN OPERATION TODAY (FRIDAY) **** : 0400 SAILING AS NORMAL 0730 RESHEDULED TO 0630 (1HR EARLY) 1130/1530 RESCHULED TO 1330 1930 RESCHEDULED TO 1830 Stena Superfast VII crossed and briefly used the berth at Belfast this evening – she is currently en route back to Cairnryan. It would appear from the above information that one of the berths at Cairnryan is ... 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
North Channel dry dock update
P&O’s European Highlander and European Causeway are scheduled to dry dock at Harland and Wolff between 13th of April and 14th of May 2015. Norbay is expected to provide cover with Express also providing one round trip per day to Cairnryan during this period. Sailings ex Larne will be: 04:00, 07:30, 11:59 (fast), 12:00, 16:30, 20:00, and 23:59. Times ex Cairnryan are the same apart from the fast trip, which will depart at 14:00. Stena’s Stena Superfast VII and VII are expected to dry dock during March for approximately 2 weeks each. Exact dates have yet to be confirmed, however Stena Nordica (ex European Ambassador) is expected to provide cover once she has been relieved by Stena Superfast X (current Dieppe Seaways). Dieppe Seaways is expected to transfer to Stena at the beginning of December and will proceed to Poland for conversion into a Stena ship for the Dublin to ... Read more