Formation Stena Line was founded in 1962 by
Sten A. Olsson in
Gothenburg, Sweden, which still serves as the company's headquarters, when he acquired Skagenlinjen between Gothenburg and
Frederikshavn, Denmark. In 1972, Stena Line was one of the first ferry operators in Europe to introduce a computer-based reservation system for the travel business area. In 1978, the freight business area also started operating a computer-based reservation system.
Freight The first freight-focused route started between Gothenburg, Sweden, and
Kiel, Germany. The ship was the MS
Stena Transporter.
North Sea During the 1980s, Stena acquired three other ferry companies. • 1981, (Sessan Line), Stena's biggest competitor on Sweden–Denmark routes, was acquired and incorporated into Stena Line. This included Sessan's two large newbuilds,
Kronprinsessan Victoria and , which became the largest ships operated by Stena by that date. • 1983, Stena acquired Varberg-Grenå Linjen, and two years later also the right to that company's former name,
Lion Ferry. Lion Ferry continued as a separate marketing company until 1997, when it was incorporated into Stena Line. • 1989, Stena acquired yet another ferry company,
Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (SMZ) (
which at the time traded under the name Crown Line). SMZ's
Hook of Holland–
Harwich route then became a part of Stena Line.
North America • 1988, July – Stena Line purchased the British Columbia Steamship Co., operators of a
Victoria–
Seattle route. • 1990, November – The Victoria–Seattle run was permanently cancelled, and the local company ceased trading.
Irish Sea In 1990, Stena Line doubled in size with the acquisition of
Sealink British Ferries from
Sea Containers. This first became Sealink Stena Line, then Stena Sealink Line and finally Stena Line (UK), which now operates all of Stena's ferry services between Great Britain and Ireland. '' arriving at
Dublin (2017) In 1996, Stena Line introduced its 20,000 tonne HSS (
High-speed Sea Service) vessels, which operated:
Belfast–
Stranraer;
Holyhead–
Dún Laoghaire and
Hook of Holland–
Harwich. In addition to the three 1,500-passenger HSS vessels, Stena Line ordered two smaller 900-passenger HSS vessels to operate on the
Gothenburg–
Frederikshavn route. Due to the bankruptcy of the shipyard, only the first of these vessels was ever completed.
English Channel In 1998, Stena's operations from
Dover and
Newhaven formed a joint venture with
P&O European Ferries as
P&O Stena Line, owned 40% and 60% respectively. In 2002, P&O acquired all of Stena's shares in the company, thus becoming the sole owner of P&O Stena Line, which soon changed its name to P&O Ferries.
Further expansion In 2000, Stena Line purchased yet another Scandinavian ferry operator:
Scandlines AB. In November 2006, Stena ordered a pair of "super ferries" with a
gross tonnage of 62,000 from
Aker Yards, Germany for delivery in 2010, with an option for two more ships of the same design. The new ferries will be amongst the largest in the world, to be operated on Stena's
North Sea route from
Hook of Holland to
Harwich. The existing ships from the
North Sea were to be moved to the Kiel–Gothenborg route, whereas the ships from Kiel would transfer to the
Gdynia to
Karlskrona route. The new ferries were launched in 2010, with
Stena Hollandica entering service on 16 May 2010, and
Stena Britannica planned to enter service in 2010.
Acquisitions and closures •
2008, May – The company moved its
Belfast Terminal from Albert Quay to the new VT4. This has reduced the length of the crossing to
Stranraer by ten minutes. •
2009, July – Stena Line announced that it had repurchased its former ship,
Stena Parisien, from SeaFrance. The ship was renamed
Stena Navigator after a comprehensive refit. She was then introduced on the
Stranraer to Belfast route, alongside HSS
Stena Voyager and
Stena Caledonia. •
2010, December – Stena Line announced it had acquired the Northern Irish operations of
DFDS Seaways. The sale includes the Belfast to
Heysham &
Birkenhead routes, two vessels from the Heysham route (Scotia Seaways & Hibernia Seaways) and two chartered vessels from the Birkenhead route ( & ). The
Fleetwood to
Larne route ended on 24 December 2010. •
2011, 21 November – Stena Line introduced the
Stena Superfast VII and
Stena Superfast VIII to replace the
Stena Navigator and
Stena Caledonia on the
Belfast–
Cairnryan route. It was announced that the
Stena Voyager would be removed from service on 20 November 2011. It was later sold to Stena Recycling and sent for scrapping in May 2013. The two new vessels were initially chartered from
Tallink before Stena bought them in 2017. •
2014, 26 February – it was announced that Stena Line would acquire
Celtic Link Ferries service from
Rosslare to
Cherbourg, France. It was also agreed to take over the charter of their vessel
Celtic Horizon, which was renamed
Stena Horizon. •
2019, February – A joint venture with
Hyundai Glovis has been announced and approved by the
European Commission, for the implementation of a new cooperative short sea intra-European waters service in between the two carriers, for the sea transport of transhipment cargo originating from
South Korea. •
2020, 14 March – due to the
Coronavirus outbreak, the company suspended operations between
Oslo and
Frederikshavn temporarily until further notice due to travel restrictions in
Denmark and
Norway, the routes sole ship the
MS Stena Saga was sent to
Gothenburg where she arrived on 16 March 2020 where the company later confirmed it would be making 950 redundancies in Sweden as a result of Coronavirus. The company then later announced on 19 March 2020 that it was going to permanently suspend and close operations on the Oslo–Frederikshavn service due to the lack of profitability, where Stena announced that due to Coronavirus it was unlikely able to see it turn a profit during the whole year when the service is totally dependent on the summer season. The future of
Stena Saga remains uncertain and remained laid up in Gothenburg (since end of 2021 she has been anchored near Manila, Philippines). •
2020 – 2021 – After being replaced by two new e-flexers, MV
Stena Embla and MV
Stena Edda, on the
Belfast to
Birkenhead route MV
Stena Mersey and MV
Stena Lagan proceeded to Tuzla, Turkey for a major refit. This included lengthening by , adding full drive through capabilities on two decks, full interior renovation and adding fuel scrubbers to reduce emissions. They entered service on the
Nynäshamn to
Ventspils route as MV
Stena Baltica and MV
Stena Scandica respectively
. •
2021, February – May – Due to a shift in travel demand,
MV Stena Estrid swapped with
MV Stena Horizon giving additional capacity to the
Rosslare to
Cherbourg route. This is after
MV Stena Estrid operated a temporary route between
Dublin and
Cherbourg in January 2021. •
2021, April – Stena introduced
MV Stena Livia, which has been owned by
Stena RoRo since 2012, on the
Nynäshamn to
Ventspils route alongside sister ship MV
Stena Flavia. Later in the year they were transferred to the
Travemünde to
Liepāja route after being replaced by the newly refurbished
MV Stena Baltica and
MV Stena Scandica. •
2021, June – July – Due to a shift in travel demand,
MV Stena Estrid operated a temporary route between
Holyhead and
Belfast. •
2022, 1 February – Stena introduced the
Nynäshamn –
Hanko route initially with MV
Urd as a cargo vessel then additionally with MV
Stena Gothica from May 2022
. •
2023, 30 June – Stena transferred MV
Stena Vision to their
Rosslare to
Cherbourg route, greatly increasing the passenger capacity and doubling the passenger sailings on the route. She replaced the chartered freight vessel MV
Seatruck Panorama. She was replaced by the new MV
Stena Ebba on her previous route
Karlskrona to
Gdynia. •
2023, 9 October – Stena announced they will be closing the
Nynäshamn to
Hanko on 20 October 2023, with the vessels being transferred within their fleet or going up on the charter market. •
2023, October – Stena bought MV
Frijsenborg, renaming her MV
Stena Forwarder during a refit in
Ostend. She entered service on the
Birkenhead to
Belfast route on 2 November 2023, replacing MV
Stena Foreteller. •
2023, 15 December – Stena confirmed their intention to open a
Dublin to
Birkenhead route, replacing the P&O's service which they ceased operating on 21 December 2023 with
MV Norbank. On 19 February 2024, Stena Line initiated its new freight-only route from Dublin to Birkenhead, the Stena Horizon will be temporarily used on this route as a permanent vessel solution is being considered. MV
Bore Song was introduced on the route from mid April 2024. •
2024, 8 March – Stena announced that they sold MV
Urd to Sea Lines for an undisclosed amount. Delivery is to take place in May 2024 for services between Turkey and Romania. •
2024, 8 April – Stena Line acquired 49% of the shares in
Africa Morocco Link (AML) from
Attica Group, expanding them outside of Europe. They operate the routes
Tanger Med,
Morocco to
Algeciras,
Spain and
Tangier Ville, Morocco to
Tarifa, Spain. •
2024, May – Stena RoRo signed a contract to convert MV
Stena Foreteller and MV
Stena Forerunner to install an extra cargo deck and thruster power. This will add 30% additional capacity for each vessel. MV
Stena Foreteller sailed for
Weihai,
China on 14 February 2025, she arrived on 26 March 2025 and then re entered service on 25 July 2025, allowing MV
Stena Forerunner to head for her conversion. •
2024, September – MV
Stena Gothica was sold to Universal Maritime and renamed MV
Gothica for service in the
Mediterranean Sea. •
2024, 10 September –
MV Stena Vision will be removed from the
Rosslare to
Cherbourg route due to lack of demand from 27 October 2024. •
2024, 7 December – Due to the closure of
Holyhead port all sailings to
Dublin are cancelled, initially until 13 Dec then to 20 Dec then to 15 January 2025 with additional routes running out of
Dublin to
Fishguard with
MV Stena Adventurer, Birkenhead with
MV Stena Estrid, and
Heysham with chartered
MV Ben My Chree. The closure of the port was due to storm damage from Storm Darragh which damaged part of the pier at terminal 3. •
2024, 16 December – It was announced that
MV Stena Vinga will be chartered to
DFDS for their new route to
Jersey after winning the tender for it. She began service on 28 March 2025. •
2025, 21 March – It was announced that
MV Stena Livia had been sold to
Strait NZ Bluebridge for service on the
Cook Strait from August 2025. From 25 April
MV Stena Horizon will take over from her on the
Travemünde –
Liepāja route with
MV Stena Vision taking her previous post on the
Cherbourg –
Rosslare route from 17 April after relieving the chartered MV
Patria Seaways. •
2025, 30 June – It was announced that the
Rosslare to
Cherbourg route would be withdrawn due to lack of demand from 30 September 2025. •
2025, 4 November –
Wasaline was acquired by Stena Line along with their route between
Umeå,
Sweden and
Vaasa,
Finland. The vessel,
Aurora Botnia, will continue to be owned by a company owned by the two cities she operates to. They took over the operations from 9 February 2026. •
2025, 21 November –
MV Stena Vision was sold to
Corsica Sardinia Ferries, being renamed
Mega Serena. •
2026, 3 February – Stena announced that they will cease operating the
Halmstad to
Grenå route from 30 April 2026 due to challenges to achieve profitability on the route. == Routes ==