25 years and counting for Stena
Stena Line, the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, is marking a major milestone today (Thursday).
It is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the relocation of its ferry services to Belfast from Larne in 1995.
During this time, the company has notched up a number of memorable high points including transporting in excess of 33 million passengers, seven million cars and nearly seven million freight units.
When Stena Line established its Belfast operation on 12th November 1995, it operated just three ferries to one port in Scotland.
Today, that service has significantly expanded to include seven vessels operating year-round services to Cairnryan, Birkenhead (Liverpool) and Heysham with a mix of freight and leisure traffic.
Paul Grant, Stena Line Trade Director (Irish Sea) said: “The last 25 years have been quite a journey for us. Each year we have managed to grow and develop our business which vindicates our initial decision to move our ferry operations to Belfast all those years ago. I have had the privilege to be with the company for all of those years and witness the many transformations that have helped to create the successful business model we have established today.”
And he added: “While there have been numerous milestones along the way a few standout moments for me include the introduction of the HSS Stena Voyager in 1996, the most advanced ferry in the world at that time; the opening of our new Belfast VT4 Terminal in 2008; the opening of our new purpose built Loch Ryan Port (Cairnryan) with the accompanying introduction of the state of the art Superfast VII and VIII vessels in 2011 and most recently (March 2020), the introduction of our new build Stena Edda onto our Belfast-Liverpool service with sister ship Stena Embla due to be introduced onto the same route early next year.”
Pictured are: Joe O’Neill, Chief Executive of Belfast Harbour (left) and Paul Grant