Extensive refurbishment of Stena Line ferries has taken place during routine winter overhauls ahead of the high season in Scandinavia, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The Swedish shipping company has invested millions in the project to upgrade public areas of two Gothenburg-Kiel route ferries linking Sweden and Germany. This took place last month at the Remontowa Repair Yard in Gdansk, Poland.
Renovation works were carried out on the 900-passenger cruise ferries Stena Scandinavia (55,050 tons/built 2003) and the smaller Stena Germanica (44,372 tons/built 2001). This involved the major refurbishment of buffet restaurants and bars, as well as the Sun Deck bar on the outdoor deck.
Last year most of the cabins were modernised on the route between Gothenburg and Kiel, which serves as an important connection for both holidaymakers and onward travel in Europe and, likewise, those heading to the Nordic nations. According to the company, current booking figures look set to be just as successful as the 2025 season.
The ferries depart Gothenburg in the evening and arrive in Kiel the following morning after a crossing of approximately 14 hours. In addition to regular scheduled services, the company offers package tours with a day trip to the German port.
As Afloat highlights, the Gothenburg-Kiel route is one of the oldest in the Stena Line route network, which stretches across Northern Europe, from the Irish Sea to the Gulf of Bothnia, an extension of the Baltic Sea. As it was here that the acquisition of Wasaline’s Umeå-Vaasa route, connecting Sweden and Finland, was recently completed. The short sea route, taking 3 hours and 30 minutes and is served by the Aurora Botnia, was custom-built in 2021.
The fortunes of the Halmstad–Grenå route, linking Sweden and Denmark across the Kattegat, however, are to close in April due to the non-profitability of the short sea route plied by the Stena Nautica. This is the fleet's second smallest and, during the early 1990s, served on a two-year charter across the Irish Sea.
