Stena Germanica, 7 October 2006

Stena Germanica

IMO 7907659
Built 1987, Gdynia Stocnia i Komuni Paryski, Poland
Tonnage 39 178 GT
Length 175,37 m
Width 30,80 m
Draught 6,75 m
2 500 passengers
2 364 berths
569 cars
1 268 lanemetres
4 Zgoda-Sulzer diesels, combined 33 098 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 21,5 knots

To clarify that which should have been evident from the build date, this is not the current (third) Stena Germanica but it's predecessor.

The second Stena Germanica was the first of four large identical ferries ordered by Stena Line from Polish shipyards in 1979. The first ship was originally planned to be called Stena Scandinavica and the second Stena Germanica, but the names were swapped during construction. The first ship of the series was launched in 1981, but due to the political unrest in Poland her and her sisters' construction was radically delayed. In 1986, seven years after the ships were ordered, none of them were completed and Stena renegotiated their build contracts. The first two ships, Stena Germanica and Stena Scandinavica would be completed with help from workers brought in from Sweden, while the order of the second pair, to be named Stena Polonica and Stena Baltica, was cancelled.

(The Stena Polonica was sold in 1988 to Fred. Olsen who planned on completing her for their Kristiansand-Hirsthals service as the Bonanza. This plan never materialized and the ship was resold in 1989 to ANEK who had the ship towed Perama where she was completed in 1992 as Kydon II though she was soon renamed El Venizelos. The El Venizelos has a slightly different superstructure from the first two sisters. The Stena Baltica meanwhile was only completed up to deck 7 at the time Stena cancelled the order and much equipment already installed, such as the engines, were stripped. In 1989 the hull was sold to Regency Cruises for completion into the cruise ship Regent Sky and towed to Perama to be completed. The bankruptcy of Regency Cruises' parent company in 1995 left the ship again laid up and incomplete. The ship, completely different from her sisters in the shape of her superstructure, has been laid up since, though in 2007 she was sold to new owners who supposedly planned to restart the construction process. In 2008 she was renamed Zoe).

Returning to the actual subject of this entry from the fascinating detour, the Stena Germanica arrived in Gothenburg in early 1987 and her fitting out was completed there. In April 1987 she was finally delivered to Stena and placed on Gothenburg-Kiel service, with extra sailings from Gothenburg to Frederikshavn during the summer months. After less than a year in service the Stena Germanica had to be drydocked with her bulbous bow rebuilt and an extra stalising plane fitted in her rear. In 1993 she was rebuilt with extra cabins and in side sponsons were added and some of the cabins were removed to create more space for freight. In 2007 her interiors were again rebuilt.

Following the deliry of Stena's new huge Stena Hollandica in 2010, the previous Stena Hollandica was transferred to the Gothenburg-Kiel route and she was renamed Stena Germanica. The old Stena Germanica was again rebuilt, renamed Stena Vision and entered service on the Karlskrona-Gdynia route in November 2011.

The photographs below show the Stena Germanica at Gothenburg on 7 October 2006. Photographed from onboard the Princess of Scandinvia. Click on the images to view full size.

Boxy 1980s design. Perhaps not the best advertisement in ship form for the company.

I find the open design of the aft superstructure particularly fascinating.