Stena Voyager Makes Final Journey
Stena Line’s HSS vessel, the Stena Voyager, which operated on the Belfast-Stranraer route between 1996 – 2011, is about to make her last journey as she heads to the recycling yard. When the Stena Voyager was first introduced in the middle of the ’90s, the ferry was unique in its class and since its first sailing, the ship has carried over 17 million passengers and made over 45,000 sailings between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
When commissioned by Stena Line, the HSS series of three ships, including the Stena Voyager, helped to revolutionised the look of the ferry industry. With its top speed of 40 knots and high quality onboard travel experience for 1,500 passengers and its freight capacity of 375 vehicles, the ferry became an instant hit with customers.
“Whilst the HSS class was a unique and highly innovative development for Stena Line, unfortunately the spiralling costs of operating the Stena Voyager have become all too high. When the Voyager was first put into service fuel was approximately $20 per barrel and now the price is around $110 dollar, for a fuel hungry vessel this is simply untenable,” said Michael McGrath, Stena Line’s Chief Operating Officer.”We live in different times now and we have to invest in more fuel efficient services for our freight and travel passengers. As a result we have now introduced two Superfast ferries on the service between Northern Ireland and Scotland and we have constructed new ports in both Cairnryan and Belfast to give our freight and travel customers one of the best ferry experiences on the Irish Sea.”
The Stena Voyager will now be moved to the Öresundsvarvet shipyard in Landskrona, Sweden, where she will be recycled by Stena Line’s sister company, Stena Recycling. All of the Stena Voyager’s various components will be recycled, as far as is possible, helping the company to maintain its environmentally responsible reputation.
“Recycling the Stena Voyager is a unique and interesting project. There are many different types of material to recycle, and this will be done in several stages. The project requires highly experienced personnel and efficient recycling processes, which we possess,” said Staffan Persson, MD, Stena Recycling. ”Recycling the large quantities of aluminium in the Stena Voyager will save up to 150 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide and the metal can be reused in the form of car parts or furniture for example.”
The Stena Voyager was designed by another company in the Stena Sphere Group, Stena Teknik and at the time was one of the most revolutionary designed and constructed ships in the world.
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