Stena Estrid returned to Holyhead, North Wales, today (Monday, April 14th) fresh from routine dry-docking in readiness for a sailing tonight to Dublin in advance of the busy Easter holidays, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The leadship of the E-Flexer class Stena Estrid, which has a capacity for 927 passengers, 300 cars, and 130 lorries, arrived in Anglesey this morning and is tonight scheduled to operate the 2215 sailing to the Irish capital. It will eventually replace the ropax Stena Horizon, which had covered its dry-docking period at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, on Merseyside.
Its last sailing on the Stena Line's central Irish Sea route takes place on Tuesday (tomorrow morning), but it won’t be until Wednesday when the service’s routine regular two ferries will be in full operation, involving the larger Stena Adventurer, giving an interim day of sailings before Good Friday.
While Stena Horizon covered the dry-docking, its place on the Rosslare-Cherbourg route was taken over since last month by Patria Seaways of DFD Ferry, albeit with a setback as it was detained, leading to cancellations, before authorities gave the all clear to enter service. Its debut on the French connection route was based on a month-long charter that expires today.
As such, the charter period of the former Stena Traveller that inaugurated Stena's Dublin-Holyhead service in 1995 has been extended, which is to see Patria Seaways make just one more round trip on the Wexford-Normandy route. This is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, the same day when a former route-serving cruise ferry, the considerably larger and more luxurious Stena Vision, makes a return to the Ireland-France route,since its withdrawal last year due to a ‘strategic review.’ It had only been introduced on the route in 2023.
Yesterday, Afloat tracked the Stena Vision from Belfast, from where it had been in layover mode on the Lagan before its passage through the Irish Sea was noted when off the Wexford coast in the morning. The cruiseferry entered the port but since has vacated it by alternating with anchorage calls offshore, as other ferries of the busy port come and go, having required the use of three berths.
The reintroduction of the Stena Vision is to cover the Easter bank weekend / holidays period and beyond. However, some onboard facilities, such as the Pure Nordic Spa, will not be open to passengers until 1 June. So at the very least, the larger-capacity cruise ferry, when compared to the ropax Stena Horizon (off-service with Afloat; more to report), will be operating beyond that date. According to the booking engine, the Stena Vision is to continue operating into the following month until the route's longer-serving ropax returns on 8 July.
