''Stena Germanica'' is a large

cruiseferry A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while ot ...

operated 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 ...

between

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, together with MS ''Stena Scandinavica'' (2002). Between 2001 and 2010, as ''Stena Hollandica'' she operated on the

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland (, ) is a coastal village in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was in use before the word ''wikt:kaap#Dutch, kaap'' – "cape". The English translation using Hook is a false cognate of t ...

service.

History

''Stena Germanica'' was built by Astilleros Españoles shipyard in

Puerto Real Puerto Real () is a municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. , it had a population of 42,151. The town is located on the northern shore of the inner lobe of the Bay of Cádiz. It wa ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. She entered service between

and

on 9 March 2001 as ''Stena Hollandica''. In January 2007, the high speed ferry ''Stena Discovery'' was withdrawn from service. To accommodate the extra traffic the ''Stena Hollandica'' was sent to the Lloyd Werft yard in

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

in March 2007 for lengthening. The vessel was cut in two vertically and a 52-metre section was inserted, making this the biggest enlargement ever made to a RoPax vessel. In May 2010, ''Stena Hollandica'' was replaced on the Harwich–Hook of Holland route by the first of two 62,000 ton superferries. ''Stena Hollandica'' underwent an extensive refit at the

Remontowa Remontowa (full name: Gdańska Stocznia "Remontowa” im. Józefa Piłsudskiego S.A.) is a company and shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. The yard specialises in ship repair and conversions. ''Remontowa S.''A. is one of 26 companies that make up the Re ...

shipyard in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, re-entering service in August 2010 on the Gothenburg – Kiel route as ''Stena Germanica III''. She was renamed ''Stena Germanica'' a month later.

Methanol

The Stena Germanica is the first major marine vessel to run on recycled methanol after a conversion in 2015 in Poland. Relative to conventional marine bunker fuels, methanol reduces emissions significantly. For reliability purposes, the common rail engine can still run on the marine gas oil as backup. Operation on methanol is expected to reduce SOx emissions by 99%, NOx by 60%, carbon dioxide by 25% and particulate matter by 95%.

Sister ships

''Stena Germanica'' is the last of four Seapacer class ships built by Astilleros Españoles for

. The first two vessels, ''Finnclipper'' and ''Finneagle'' were built in 1998 and chartered to Finnish ferry operator

Finnlines Finnlines Plc (, ) is a shipping operator of Roll-on/roll-off, ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Celtic Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Balt ...

. The next two vessels, ''Stena Britannica'' and ''Stena Hollandica'' were built in 2000 and operated by

themselves.

References

Lloyd's Register (2015). " LR to class the world's first-ever methanol-powered sea vessel". Retrieved 2015-01-09, from http://www.lr.org/en/news-and-insight/news/lr-to-class-the-worlds-first-ever-methanol-powered-sea-vessel.aspx

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stena Germanica (2000) Ferries of Sweden Ferries of Germany Ships built in Spain 2000 ships Germanica 2001