Stena Line Holland BV


Stena Line Holland BV is a subsidiary of Stena Line that operates ferry routes between Harwich and Killingholme on the east coast of England and Hoek van Holland and Europort in the Netherlands. The head office is in Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands. Apart from during the two world wars there has been a continuous service operating between these two countries, initially by the railway companies serving the east coast of England together with Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland a Dutch ferry company. In 1990 Stena Line had purchased both parts and Stena Line Holland BV came into being.

Hoek van Holland - Harwich

A passenger service has operated from Harwich to Hoek van Holland since the late 19th century apart from a break during the Second World War. Until 1990, the route was operated by two companies: one British and the other Dutch; but since then, Stena Line BV has been operating this route.

History of the route

In the late 19th century, the Great Eastern Railway, wishing to compete with its rivals who were operating from the Kent coast to France and Belgium, obtained the rights to provide a cargo and cattle service to Rotterdam. After first using chartered tonnage they carried passengers with the paddle steamer Zealous 613 gt, built in 1864 on the Thames by J & W Dudgeon. Dudgeon also supplied the 1865 built Avalon, 670 gt, which was powered by a two-cylinder oscillating engine that gave a speed of 14 knots.
When the service first started, ships bound for Rotterdam had to negotiate the Brielle Bar to enter the river Maas with access possible only at high water. Things improved in 1872 with the opening of the New Waterway which by-passed the Brielle Bar. The Great Eastern paddle steamer, Richard Young, was the first seagoing vessel to use the direct link to the city.
In 1883, the Great Eastern Railway moved its English base from Harwich town to Parkeston Quay and in 1893 moved its Dutch operations from Rotterdam to the new rail terminus at the Hook of Holland. The first vessel to call at the "Hook" was the steamer Cambridge built in 1886 of 1,194 gt.
In 1893, the GER built the twin-screw Chelmsford to open a new night service. The new terminal in the Hook was situated on the north western end of the New Waterway and this saved two hours on the passage to Rotterdam itself. The new route enabled passengers to leave London in the evening and, after arrival in the Hook before 6 am, be in Amsterdam at breakfast time and reach Berlin by the end of the day.
The service quickly became popular, and GER used three ships to offer night sailings each way, every day except Saturday. By 1904, the GER had ceased operations to Rotterdam. The Dutch had their own services from Flushing, which was operated by Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland which was created in 1875, which ran firstly to Queenborough near Sheerness and then to Folkestone.
On 1 January 1923 after the enforced re-grouping of the railway companies, the route came under the control of the London and North Eastern Railway.
In 1926, SMZ moved its English port to Harwich providing day sailings but did not start using the Hook of Holland until after the Second World War. After both World Wars, the Hook became a major port for troop movements, these operations continuing until 1961.
Post Second World War vessels on this route included the John Brown built Arnhem. On 1 January 1948, after the nationalising of the British railway network, the route came under the control of British Railways. In 1950, the Amsterdam, also built by John Brown, came into service; in 1963, the elegant Avalon was built for this route. SMZ added the motor ship the Koningin Wilhelmina in 1960.
In 1968, the two Ro-Ro passenger vessels came into service, the St George in July and the Koningin Juliana in October. This fully integrated service was operated from November 1968 under the Sealink banner with each ship leaving port by day and returning overnight.
In 1984, Sealink was bought by Sea Containers who continued to operate the British operations under the Sealink name. In 1989, SMZ was acquired by Stena Line and in 1990 Stena bought Sealink, thus for the first time, the Dutch and British operations were under the same ownership.

Operation under Stena BV

In 1990, when Stena Line took control of the route, the Harwich to Hoek van Holland service was being operated with two passenger and one freight Ro-Ro vessels. This continued until 2 June 1997, when with the introduction of the high speed ferry Stena Discovery, the two conventional ferries were taken off the route and an additional freight ferry was introduced.
Since 1996, Stena Line, in conjunction with Anglia Railways and its successors in the United Kingdom and Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Netherlands Railways, has been operating the integrated Dutchflyer service, a rail/sea link between London and Amsterdam.
In June 2006, Stena Line announced that the high-speed catamaran ferry ' would be withdrawn from service on 8 January 2007. It had been carrying the majority of the passenger traffic on the Hoek van Holland–Harwich route. This service was halted due to the excessive cost of operating the ship and competition from the budget airlines. The ferry consumed 180,000 litres of high grade fuel daily whilst doing its four crossings at speeds of up to 45 knots, about 75 kilometres per hour.
After the Stena Discovery was removed from service on the Hoek van Holland - Harwich route, she was laid up in Belfast. In 2010 she was sold to Venezuelan interests.
To replace the Stena Discovery, Stena Line invested 100 million euro in rebuilding the existing ferries of the route. The Ro-Pax vessels ' and were both lengthened and converted at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven so that they could carry additional passengers. Both ships are now 240 metres long, the Stena Britannica being lengthened by 28 metres and the Stena Hollandica by 52 metres. The Stena Britannica returned to service on 12 March 2007 and the Stena Hollandica on 14 May 2007.
In November 2006, Stena Line ordered to be built at Aker Yards in Germany, to replace the Stena Britannica and Stena Hollandica. These vessels, which are now in service, are the biggest in Stena Line's fleet so far. They were delivered in May and October 2010.

Ships that have operated between Harwich and Rotterdam or Hoek van Holland

Ships of the Great Eastern Railway

Ship's
name		Entered
service		Ended
service		Gross
Tonnage		Type of
Vessel
Avalon13 June 18641866613Paddle steamer
Zealous1 August 18641887613Paddle steamer
Harwich1864October 1907750Paddle steamer
Rotterdam18641908757Paddle steamer
Avalon1865Before 1906670Paddle steamer
Ravensbury1865Wrecked
5 March 1870		621Paddle steamer
Great Yarmouth18661872731Single Screw
Steamer
Richard YoungMarch 18711890718Paddle Steamer
Pacific18721887712Paddle Steamer
Claud Hamilton14 August 18751897962Paddle Steamer
Princess of Wales6 July 187818941098Paddle Steamer
Lady Tyler29 May 18801893951Paddle Steamer
Adelaide23 July 18801896927Paddle Steamer
Norwich24 July 188319111037Twin Screw Steamer
Ipswich23 October 188319051037Twin Screw Steamer
Cambridge12 February 188725 November 19121160Twin Screw Steamer
Colchester27 February 18898 March 19161160Twin Screw Steamer
Chelmsford31 May 1893June 19101635Twin Screw Steamer
Berlin10 January 1894Wrecked
21 February 1907		1745Twin Screw Steamer
Amsterdam9 May 1894December 19281745Twin Screw Steamer
Vienna11 October 189423 March 19301753Twin Screw Steamer
Dresden29 June 189720 January 1918
Sunk by UC 22		1805Twin Screw Steamer
Cromer22 April 190230 August 1934812Twin Screw
Cargo Steamer
Brussels19 June 190223 June 1916
Captured		1380Twin Screw Steamer
Yarmouth190327 October 1908
Lost at sea		806Twin Screw
Cargo Steamer
Clacton7 February 19057 October 1914
Requisitioned		820Twin Screw
Cargo Steamer
NewmarketAugust 19078 October 1914
Requisitioned		833Twin Screw
Cargo Steamer
Copenhagen27 January 1907October 1914
Requisitioned		2570Triple Screw
Steamer
Munich16 November 190810 May 1940
Ship Scuttled		2410Triple Screw
Steamer
St Petersburg7 July 191010 December 1939
Requisitioned		2448Triple Screw
Steamer
FelixstoweApril 191910 February 1951892Single Screw
Cargo Steamer
Frinton6 November 191919 July 19291361Single Screw Steamer
St GeorgeJune 191916 July 19292676Triple Screw
Steamer
AntwerpJune 19201 May 19502957Twin Screw Steamer
Bruges27 September 19209 September 1940
Requisitioned		2949Twin Screw Steamer
Malines17 March 192110 May 19402969Twin Screw Steamer

Ships of the London and North Eastern Railway and British Railways

Ship's nameDate entered serviceDate withdrawnTonnageType of Ship
Sheringham15 September 1926June 19401088Single Screw Steamer
23 March 194625 October 1958-
15 July 192924 August 19394227Twin Screw Steamer
1 August 19452 July 1960--
19301 September 19394220Twin Screw Steamer
14 November 194524 December 1947--
19301 September 19394218Twin Screw Steamer
26 May 194727 April 19684891Twin Screw Steamer
Duke of York31 May 194819 July 19634325Twin Screw Steamer
10 June 19507 November 19685092Twin Screw Steamer
25 July 196331 August 19746584Twin Screw Steamer
Seafreightliner I17 May 196830 July 19864043Twin Screw Motor
Container Ship
Seafreightliner II24 June 19681 August 19864034Twin Screw Motor
Container Ship
17 July 19685 June 19837356Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
19 January 197512 May 19828987Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
12 March 198310th June19837993Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
10 June 198319 June 199117043Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship

Ships operated by Zeeland Steamship Company (SMZ)

Ship's nameDate entered serviceDate withdrawnTonnageType of Ship
Oranje Nassau27 August 1945July 19543053Twin Screw Steamer
Mecklenburg21 November 194525 October 19592907Twin Screw Steamer
5 March 1948December 19684353Twin Screw Motorship
31 May 1948September 19684353Twin Screw Motorship
7 February 19601 July 19786228Twin Screw Motorship
17 October 19688 April 19846682Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
29 June 1978May 19869356Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
11 February 198311 March 19837993Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
1 April 198425 March 19866801Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
25 March 198616 April 19865731Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
16 April 19862 June 199731189Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship
January 1989February 19899796Twin Screw Ro-Ro Motorship

Ships operated by Stena Line BV

Ship's nameDate entered serviceDate withdrawnTonnageRemarks
19 June 19913 March 199425,905Now named Stena Saga
2 May 1990March 200117,991Sold to Ventouris Ferries, renamed Seatrader
4 March 19941 June 199714,378Now on the Fishguard to Rosslare route
2 May 1997October 200021,019-
2 June 19978 January 200719,638Sold to Venezuelan interests
8 June 19983 October 20005,631Now named Translandia for Eckero Line
12 October 200025 February 200329,841Now named Finnfellow
9 March 20018 May 201029,841Vessel lengthened in 2007. New tonnage 44,237
25 February 20038 October 201043,487Vessel lengthened in 2007. New tonnage 55,050
16 May 2010Still in service64,039
9 October 2010Still in service64,039

Hoek van Holland - Killingholme

This route was inaugurated on 8 October 2000 using two old freight RoRo ferries, the ', built in 1969, and the ', built in 1973. The success of this route encouraged a further 200 million euro investment in two replacement ferries for this service. The first vessel, the Stena Trader replaced the Stena Seatrader and commenced operating on 12 August 2006 and the second vessel, the Stena Traveller went into service on 20 June 2007 replacing the Stena Searider.
On 21 May 2010 it was announced that the Stena Trader and Stena Traveller would leave on a five-year charter to the Canadian company, Marine Atlantic, to sail between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Two larger vessels, the Stena Transporter and Stena Transit had already been ordered from Samsung in South Korea as replacements, but would not be ready until 2011. To cover the gap two vessels, the Finnarrow and the Coraggio, were chartered. The first of the new vessels, the Stena Transporter, took over from the Finnarrow on 1 March 2011. The second vessel, the Stena Transit, is due in October 2011.
Vessels that have operated on the Hoek van Holland to Killingholme route
Ship's nameDate entered serviceDate withdrawnTonnageRemarks
8 October 20009 March 20015631
8 October 200018 June 200720914
14 March 200111 August 200617991
12 August 200630 September 201026660
20 June 20079 December 201026660
30 September 20106 November 201124950
9 December 201028 February 201125996
1 March 2011Still in service33690
7 November 2011Still in service33690-

Rotterdam (Europoort) - Harwich

This route is descended from the Felixstowe to Europort route that was operated by Townsend Thoresen. In 1987 Townsend Thoresen were taken over by P&O Ferries who in turn sold the route in 2002 to Stena who then moved the British end of the operation to Harwich.