#AnotherHSSWorld – Since the sole surviving HSS 1500 fastferry departed Holyhead, Wales last weekend, the previous Stena Explorer is currently off the Spainish coast, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The craft sold by Stena Line to Turkish owners and renamed One World Karadeniz, departed her former Welsh homeport from where she made her debut in 1996. For 18 years she plied on the route to Dun Laoghaire Harbour until withdrawn in 2014.

In that timeframe she carried over 15 million passengers, 3 million cars and over half a million freight units on almost 29, 000 sailings on the Ireland-UK route.

It was observed all of the Stena Line livery markings were removed, while I was making a trip through Holyhead by coincidence in the early hours of that same day before she finally made her departure from the Anglesea port.

At the stern the new name of the Finnish built craft could be seen albeit in the dim light prior to boarding a night ferry to Dublin Port.

During mid-day the HSS bid farewell to Holyhead and vice-versa as Stena staff and spectators witnessed an emmotional farewell of the historic occasion. She was due to have departed the previous Thursday, however weather conditions changed such plans.

A flotilla of local tugs escorted the 126m long by 40m wide craft out of the confines of the inner harbour before transferring One World Karadeniz for her delivery voyage by the tug Bluster.

The Dutch anchor-handler and supply tug of more than 2,000 tonnes is towing the almost 20,000 tonnes fast-ferry.

So far the repositioning voyage of One World Karadeniz has included a final exit of the Irish Sea, through the Celtic Sea and a first for the craft with a passage in new waters off the Bay of Biscay.

By mid-morning today, the Bluster was making 4.8 knots with her tow of One World Karadeniz some 44 nautical miles off Fisterra along the north-west coast of Spain.

Afloat understands that voyage time to Turkey is expected to take 17 days to reach Yalova. The port with several shipyards is to the south-east of Instanbul.

It will be interesting to see what future the new owners have in mind for HSS craft given her high-fuel costs of recent years. Could she be converted for other purposes? given her large wide decks for use as a platform but this is only speculation.