MS Stena Saga
Encyclopedia
MS
Ship prefix
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...
Stena Saga is a cruiseferry
Cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with 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 others use the ships as means of...
owned by the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
shipping company Stena Line
Stena Line
Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...
and operated mainly on their route connecting Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
to Frederikshavn
Frederikshavn
This article is about a Danish town. For the German town, see Friedrichshafen, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Frederikshavn is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Every Monday morning she also sails between Göteborg, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Frederikshavn
Frederikshavn
This article is about a Danish town. For the German town, see Friedrichshafen, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Frederikshavn is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. She was built as MS Silvia Regina in 1981 by Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...
Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
for Rederi AB Svea
Rederi AB Svea
Stockholms Rederi AB Svea was a Swedish shipping company founded in the 1870s...
for use in Silja Line
Silja Line
Silja Line is a Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy – today Tallink Silja Oy – is a subsidiary of Tallink Grupp, handling marketing and sales for Tallink and Silja...
traffic. The ship joined Stena Line fleet in 1991, originally with the name MS Stena Britannica.
Concept and construction
In the late 1970s EffoaEffoa
Finland Steamship Company was a Finnish shipping company founded in 1883 by Captain Lars Krogius. In Finnish and Swedish The company was usually referred to simply as FÅA. In 1976, the company changed its name to Effoa, a phonetic spelling of the abbreviation FÅA.The company was a founding member...
and Rederi AB Svea
Rederi AB Svea
Stockholms Rederi AB Svea was a Swedish shipping company founded in the 1870s...
, two of the owners of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
operator Silja Line
Silja Line
Silja Line is a Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy – today Tallink Silja Oy – is a subsidiary of Tallink Grupp, handling marketing and sales for Tallink and Silja...
, made the decision to order two new, large car/passenger ferries for Silja Line's Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
—Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
service. The ships were designed to be much larger than the ships that were at the time sailing on the route (built in 1975) and they would be Silja Line's first genuine cruiseferries
Cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with 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 others use the ships as means of...
.
During the 70s the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Dubegion-Normandie shipyard in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
had been Silja Line's shipyard of choice, with both previous generations of ferries for the Helsinki—Stockholm service built there. However for the new ships, the decision was made to build them in Finland at Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...
Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
shipyards, that was at the time building several large ferries for Silja's main rivals Viking Line
Viking Line
Viking Line is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange...
.
Externally the new ships were quite typical ferries of the early 1980s, with large boxlike superstructures. An unusual feature on the ships was a two-deck high panorama window on the front of the superstructure, offering beautiful views over the ship's bow.
On October 21, 1980 the second of Silja's new ships was lanched at Wärtsilä's Perno shipyard. Subsequently she was towed to Wärtsilä's Turku shipyard
Crichton-Vulcan
Crichton-Vulcan is an abandoned shipyard in Turku, Finland that once formed the cornerstone of the Finnish shipbuilding industry. The shipyard is best known for the World War II coastal defence ships and submarines it produced....
where the construction was finished. On April 28, 1981 the ship was named MS Silvia Regina by HM Queen Silvia of Sweden
Queen Silvia of Sweden
|align=right|Queen Silvia of Sweden is the Queen consort of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Styled Her Majesty The Queen, Silvia is the mother of the heir apparent to the throne, Crown Princess Victoria.-Childhood:Queen Silvia was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on 23 December 1943...
. Twelve days later the ship left on a two-day test drive, and finally on 10 June 1981 she was delivered to her new owners. Instead of being delivered directly to Rederi AB Svea, the ship's new owners were Suomen Yritysrahoitus, who chartered the ship immediately to Svea Line (Finland). Due to this arrangement the ship was registered in Helsinki and not Stockholm, the usual homeport of Rederi AB Svea's ships.
1981–1991: Silvia Regina
On 12 June 1981, the brand new Silvia Regina was set in Silja Line's Helsinki—Stockholm service, joining her sister MS FinlandiaMS Finlandia
MS Finlandia may refer to the following ships: – a ferry operated by Finland Steamship Company 1967–1975 and Finnlines 1975–1978. – a cruiseferry operated by Silja Line 1981–1990. – a ro-ro freighter operated by Finnlines 2003 onwards....
that had been completed some four months earlier. The ship carried Rederi AB Svea funnel colours for only a few months, as the company was absorbed into its parent company Johnson Line in the end of 1982. As a result the Silvia Regina had received Johnson Line's blue/yellow funnel colours already before the refit. Soon after entering service a major design flaw was discovered in the ships. In order to maximise car carrying capacity they had been designed with very wide bows that made the ships very difficult to control, especially in poor weather conditions. As a result both ships were docked at Wärtsilä's Perno shipyard during the winter 1981-1982 and rebuilt with new bows that were notably sleeker along the waterline. The Silvia Regina was docked for bow reconstruction from 13 January onwards. After this was completed, she was again taken to Wärtsilä's Turku shipyard where new cabins were built and repairs were carried on in the ship's restaurants. Following completion of the reconstruction the ship re-entered service in Turku on 3 February, from where she made a crossing to Stockholm, after which she continued on her normal traffic.
In 1984 the ship's homeport was changed from Helsinki to Mariehamn
Mariehamn
Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city...
. On 21 March 1985 while outside Helsinki the ship's rear on top of the heavy sea ice
Sea ice
Sea ice is largely formed from seawater that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs below the freezing point of pure water, at about -1.8 °C ....
during a turn, as a result of which the ship listed slightly and a truck trailer capsized on a second truck on the cardeck. There were no other casualties and the ship was able to continue sailing normally. There was a more serious threat to the ship made on 17 August 1986 when a bomb threat was made against the ship in Stockholm. The passengers and crew were evacuated, and to ensure passenger safety they were taken to Turku onboard MS Svea
MS Svea
MS Svea may refer to the following motor ships:, a ferry operated by Rederi AB Svea 1966—1969., a cruiseferry operated by Silja Line 1985—1992....
instead of sailing to Helsinki as planned. Later the Silvia Regina departed Stockholm without passengers and resumed normal traffic in Helsinki the following day.
In January 1987 Johnson Line purchased the Silvia Regina from Suomen Yritysrahoitus with the cost of 189,862,839 Finnish markka, and moved her under Swedish flag. However the following year Johnson Line line sold the ship to Stena Line
Stena Line
Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...
who chartered her back to Johnson Line until Silja Line's new Helsinki—Stockholm ships (then still in planning stages) were completed. In the end the new ships were severely delayed, and it was not until the end of May 1991 that the ship stopped sailing for Silja Line. For the last months of her service with Silja she received Silja Line's new funnel colours, with the blue seal that had up until that point been painted to the side of the ship next to the name moved to the funnel.
1991–1994: Stena Britannica
After the end of her service with Silja the Silvia Regina sailed from Stockholm to BremerhavenBremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where she was taken over by Stena Line on 2 June 1991 and subsequently rebuilt for her new service at Schichau Seebeckswerft AG. During docking the ship was renamed MS Stena Britannica, and on 19 June she entered service on Stena Line's Hoek van Holland
Hoek van Holland
The Hook of Holland , also known in English as the Hook, is a town in South Holland in the Netherlands. It is situated on the North Sea coast, on the north bank of the Nieuwe Waterweg ship canal. The town is administered by the municipality of Rotterdam as a district of that city...
—Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
-service.
1994 onwards: Stena Saga
The ship was not economic to use on the Hoek van Holland—Harwich route, and in March 1994 she was moved to the OsloOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
—Fredrikshavn route, taking over the route and, confusingly, the name of MS Stena Saga
MS Stena Europe
MS Stena Europe is a ferry owned by Stena Line and operated on their Fishguard—Rosslare service. She was built in 1981 by the Götaverken shipyard in Gothenburg, Sweden as MS Kronprinsessan Victoria for Sessan Line. During the same year Sessan Line passed under the ownership of Stena Line...
, which in turn took over the Hoek van Holland—Harwich route. Initially during winter months the route was extended to Oslo—Fredrikshavn—Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
.
On 9 August 1995, while en route from Fredrikshavn to Oslo the ship's engines stalled for two hours, during which she lay at anchor to stop the ship drifting towards land. In January 2000 the ship was rebuilt at Götaverken
Götaverken
Götaverken was a shipbuilding company that was located on Hisingen, Gothenburg. It was founded in 1841, and went bankrupt in 1989.The company was founded in 1841 by a Scottish businessman called Alexander Keiller under the name Keillers Werkstad i Göteborg, and was aimed at industrial production...
Cityvarvet, Gothenburg with amongst other things rear sponsons added. In August 2000 the ship stopped taking passenger cars onboard on the Fredrikshavn—Gothenburg portion of the route. For the weekend 12–13 May 2001 the ship was chartered to a music festival in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
Between December 2002 and January 2003 the ship was again rebuilt at Cityvarvet. In June 2003 the ship was chartered to the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
football union for a cruise from Oslo to Copenhagen. On 14 June 2005, after departing Frederikshavn for Oslo the smoke detector in one of the generator rooms gave an alarm, and the ship returned to Frederikshavn. Following this she was kept off service for a week. Between December 2005 and January 2006 the ship was once again rebuilt at Cityvarvet. In early 2008 she was docked at Cityvarvet once again. During this docking the large "spoiler" was removed from the funnel, reportedly to improve stability, while altering the ship's appearance and causing some dismay from ship enthustiasts in the Nordic Countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
.