MS ''Stena Scandica'' is a

RoPax Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

, owned by

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

and it operates on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

between

Nynäshamn Nynäshamn is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid-19th century, it was only ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

History

''Stena Scandica'' was built in July 2005, as ''Lagan Viking'', entering service with

Norse Merchant Ferries Norse Merchant Ferries was an Irish Sea ferry company that operating passenger and freight RORO services between England the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. History Norse Merchant Ferries was created in October 1999 when Cenargo, t ...

later the same month. It was named after the

River Lagan The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The ...

, the principal river in Belfast. A few months later, Norse Merchant Ferries was acquired by

Norfolkline Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English Channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English Channel and Irish Sea; and ...

. In July 2010, Norfolkline was acquired by

DFDS DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ''The United Steamship Company''). DFDS was founded in 1866, when Carl Frederik Tietgen, C.F. Tiet ...

. The vessel was renamed ''Lagan Seaways'' during her refit in August 2010. Later that same year, DFDS sold its Northern Irish operations to

. The sale included the

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

–

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

route and ''Lagan Seaways''

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

, ''Mersey Seaways''. In August 2011, she was renamed ''Stena Lagan'' Lagan seaways belfast april 2011

In March 2020, '' Stena Edda'' arrived from China to replace ''Stena Lagan'' on the Belfast to Birkenhead route. ''Stena Lagan'' departed for Tuzla, Istanbul on 14 March 2020, for lengthening with a midsection. Beside the lengthening, she received a new bow. The ship was renamed ''Stena Scandica'' before the end of 2020. On August 29, 2022 a fire started in a cooling container on the car deck whilst en route to Latvia, close to

Gotska Sandön Gotska Sandön (literally translated as "The Gotlandic Sand Island") is an uninhabited Swedish island north of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. It has been a national park since 1909. Geography Sandön is situated north of Fårö in the Baltic Se ...

off the Swedish east coast. Although the crew could extinguish the fire without injuries, it caused a loss of power, and the ferry drifting towards the coast of

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

. Several passengers were evacuated by helicopter to the nearby ferry M/S Visby who continued toward Gotland. After several hours, two of the engines could be started. On August 30, Stena Scandica arrived in Nynäshamn, Sweden under her own power.

Route

''Stena Lagan'' operated on the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

, on the Birkenhead to Belfast route, with her sister ship ''Stena Mersey''. In all, the total journey time on board the ship was 8 hours. From early 2021, ''Stena Scandica'' operates on the

between

and

On board

''Stena Lagan'' carried up to 720 passengers. As ''Stena Scandica'', the ship's capacity was increased to 970 passengers, with the 2020-21 lengthening of the ship.

References

External links

DFDS Seaways website

Norfolkline website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stena Scandica Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of Northern Ireland Ferries of England Ferries of Sweden Ferries of Latvia 2005 ships Scandica Ships built by Cantiere Navale Visentini Ships built in Italy