P&O Stena Line
Encyclopedia
P&O Stena Line was formed in 1998 after the merger of P&O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd and the Dover
and Newhaven
operations of Stena Line
.
, French
and EU
authorities and the new company began on the 10th March 1998 with joint livery being officially unveiled the day before. Ownership of the new company was 60/40 in favour of P&O with all shore and sea management performed by P&O. Voting rights between the two companies was 50/50.
Both P&O and Stena also put various building assets into the merger. An example of which was P&O Stena Lines "Central Preparation" kitchens in the western docks, and their training centre (both ex. British Rail buildings). Channel House, P&O's Dover headquarters were leased from P&O Corporate in London to P&O Stena Line.
The Newhaven-Dieppe service was closed in early 1999. P&O Stena was replaced on the route by Transmanche Ferries and Hoverspeed
.
In April 2002 P&O announced its intention to buy out the 40% stake in P&O Stena Line owned by Stena and this was completed by August. P&O Stena Line then became part of P&O Ferries
.
volunteered 8 vessels into the newly formed group:
The first five being RORO
ships sailing Dover to Calais, the last three being dedicated Freight only ROPAX vessels sailing Dover to Zeebrugge.
Stena Line volunteered 6 vessels into the newly formed group:
The first two vessels were sailing on the Newhaven to Dieppe route, the following three vessels on Dover to Calais, and the fastcraft Lynx 3 was a multipurpose HSC craft operating primarily from Newhaven, but also capable having done so in the past operating from Dover.
(The name Lynx is rooted in the company's past when operating as Stena Sealink Line - the company's first two HSC Craft were named Stena SeaLynx I and Stena SeaLynx II.)
It was decided due to the freight capacity of the Stena Invicta that she would be unviable in a service that had to cut its tonnage down as part of the merger agreements, so she was laid up in France awaiting Charter and never saw active service with P&OSL. There was speculation that she would return to service with the company during the annual drydocking periods to serve as a relief vessel, but this never happened. Stena Antrim was also withdrawn immediately and was laid up until being sold.
Initially the P&O Stena Line fleet was made up of 12 active vessels, these were:-
Multi-purpose vessels
Freight Ferries
Fastcraft
While all Dover vessels initially kept their pre-merger names, they were gradually changed during each vessels annual refit and the P&OSL prefix was adopted in 1999 replacing Pride of and Stena prefixes. As a result Stena Fantasia and Stena Empereur received new names of P&OSL Canterbury and P&OSL Provence respectively.
At Newhaven the Stena Lynx III was renamed Elite in advance of the merger, Stena Cambria kept its name until the closure of the Newhaven-Dieppe service at the start of 1999. The Elite fastcraft was returned to Stena Line and regained its original name, the Stena Cambria was sold.
It was originally intended that P&OSL Picardy would transfer to POSL's Newhaven-Dieppe route. It was planned that a central loading ramp between the upper and lower vehicle decks would be fabricated and fitted, as Dover vessel operate with two loading ramps, whilst many other ports only operate with one. However this did not occur and the planned transfer never took place.
The P&OSL Picardy remained on the Dover-Calais route until 2001, and then spent several months laid up in France before being sold to a smaller rival firm operating from Ramsgate - TEF Shipping. Today she is the only one of the original three Spirit Class vessel still sailing in UK waters. The other active sister ship, P&OSL Kent is now sailing for a Greek operator. The third vessel was the ill fated Herald of Free Enterprise that capsized off the port of Zeebrugge in the late 1980s.
During 1998 P&O Stena chartered Stena Royal for use on the Dover-Zeebrugge freight service. The ship was later renamed and refitted P&OSL Aquitaine.
The fleet remained the same until the purchase of Stena Line's share in the company by P&O in 2002. An announcement was made that the Dover-Zeebrugge service would close but the actual closure occurred under P&O Ferries management in December 2002
fleet. Finnegan Consultancy Group developed and implemented the original Brand World strategy which brought about a standard image across the fleet.
The brands were:-
As of 2007, P&O Ferries have begun removing some of their familiar Brand world theming throughout their fleet.
The three main affected brands are:
and Pride of Kent
respectively replacing PO Canterbury and PO Kent which after the end of P&O Stena Line lost the '&' and 'SL' from their names. Pride of Provence
and Pride of Aquitaine were later withdrawn as part of the review of P&O Ferries operations announced in September 2004.
The Newhaven-Dieppe service was run by Transmanche Ferries but the service has been put out to tender in early 2007 as part of the French operators parent company plan. The successful bid was submitted by Paris based Louis Drefus (LD) Lines who also operate the Portsmouth - Le Havre service.
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
and Newhaven
Newhaven, East Sussex
Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...
operations of 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,...
.
History
The idea for a joint service was initially put forward in July 1996 and in October of the same year signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the merger of their ferry interests on the Short Sea routes. The go ahead was given to the merger towards the end of 1997 by UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, 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...
and EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
authorities and the new company began on the 10th March 1998 with joint livery being officially unveiled the day before. Ownership of the new company was 60/40 in favour of P&O with all shore and sea management performed by P&O. Voting rights between the two companies was 50/50.
Both P&O and Stena also put various building assets into the merger. An example of which was P&O Stena Lines "Central Preparation" kitchens in the western docks, and their training centre (both ex. British Rail buildings). Channel House, P&O's Dover headquarters were leased from P&O Corporate in London to P&O Stena Line.
The Newhaven-Dieppe service was closed in early 1999. P&O Stena was replaced on the route by Transmanche Ferries and Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed, formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd, was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005....
.
In April 2002 P&O announced its intention to buy out the 40% stake in P&O Stena Line owned by Stena and this was completed by August. P&O Stena Line then became part of P&O Ferries
P&O Ferries
P&O Ferries is the current name for the amalgamation of a range of ferry services that operated from the United Kingdom to Ireland and Continental Europe...
.
Ships
On completion of the merger, P&O European FerriesP&O Ferries
P&O Ferries is the current name for the amalgamation of a range of ferry services that operated from the United Kingdom to Ireland and Continental Europe...
volunteered 8 vessels into the newly formed group:
- Pride of BrugesMS Pride of Free EnterpriseOleander is one of a class of three roll-on/roll-off ferries built for Townsend Thoresen at the end of the 1970s. Her two sister ships were the and the infamous . She currently operates as the MV Oleander for Transeuropa Ferries-History:...
- Pride of Burgundy
- Pride of Calais
- Pride of Dover
- Pride of Kent
- European Highway
- European Pathway
- European Seaway
The first five being RORO
RORO
Roll-on/roll-off ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels...
ships sailing Dover to Calais, the last three being dedicated Freight only ROPAX vessels sailing Dover to Zeebrugge.
Stena Line volunteered 6 vessels into the newly formed group:
- Stena Antrim
- Stena CambriaMS Stena CambriaMS Stena Cambria is a ferry launched in 1980 as the St Anselm for Sealink. Starting life on the Dover-Calais, she now operates as the Bari with Ventouris Ferries in the Mediterranean.-Sealink:...
- Stena Empereur
- Stena FantasiaMS Stena FantasiaMS Stena Fantasia is a ferry launched in 1979 as the Scandinavia . She spent a large part of her career serving the Dover-Calais cross channel ferry route with successive operators...
- Stena Invicta
- Stena Lynx IIIHSC Stena Lynx IIIHSC Sunflower 2 is a high-speed ferry operated by Dae A Express and opearted on Stena Line's Holyhead - Dún Laoghaire route and seasonally on the Fishguard - Rosslare service...
The first two vessels were sailing on the Newhaven to Dieppe route, the following three vessels on Dover to Calais, and the fastcraft Lynx 3 was a multipurpose HSC craft operating primarily from Newhaven, but also capable having done so in the past operating from Dover.
(The name Lynx is rooted in the company's past when operating as Stena Sealink Line - the company's first two HSC Craft were named Stena SeaLynx I and Stena SeaLynx II.)
It was decided due to the freight capacity of the Stena Invicta that she would be unviable in a service that had to cut its tonnage down as part of the merger agreements, so she was laid up in France awaiting Charter and never saw active service with P&OSL. There was speculation that she would return to service with the company during the annual drydocking periods to serve as a relief vessel, but this never happened. Stena Antrim was also withdrawn immediately and was laid up until being sold.
Initially the P&O Stena Line fleet was made up of 12 active vessels, these were:-
Multi-purpose vessels
- Pride of BrugesMS Pride of Free EnterpriseOleander is one of a class of three roll-on/roll-off ferries built for Townsend Thoresen at the end of the 1970s. Her two sister ships were the and the infamous . She currently operates as the MV Oleander for Transeuropa Ferries-History:...
later P&OSL Picardy later P&OSL Burgundy later P&OSL Calais later P&OSL Dover later P&OSL Kent - Stena Empereur later P&OSL Provence later P&OSL Canterbury
Freight Ferries
Fastcraft
- EliteHSC Stena Lynx IIIHSC Sunflower 2 is a high-speed ferry operated by Dae A Express and opearted on Stena Line's Holyhead - Dún Laoghaire route and seasonally on the Fishguard - Rosslare service...
While all Dover vessels initially kept their pre-merger names, they were gradually changed during each vessels annual refit and the P&OSL prefix was adopted in 1999 replacing Pride of and Stena prefixes. As a result Stena Fantasia and Stena Empereur received new names of P&OSL Canterbury and P&OSL Provence respectively.
At Newhaven the Stena Lynx III was renamed Elite in advance of the merger, Stena Cambria kept its name until the closure of the Newhaven-Dieppe service at the start of 1999. The Elite fastcraft was returned to Stena Line and regained its original name, the Stena Cambria was sold.
It was originally intended that P&OSL Picardy would transfer to POSL's Newhaven-Dieppe route. It was planned that a central loading ramp between the upper and lower vehicle decks would be fabricated and fitted, as Dover vessel operate with two loading ramps, whilst many other ports only operate with one. However this did not occur and the planned transfer never took place.
The P&OSL Picardy remained on the Dover-Calais route until 2001, and then spent several months laid up in France before being sold to a smaller rival firm operating from Ramsgate - TEF Shipping. Today she is the only one of the original three Spirit Class vessel still sailing in UK waters. The other active sister ship, P&OSL Kent is now sailing for a Greek operator. The third vessel was the ill fated Herald of Free Enterprise that capsized off the port of Zeebrugge in the late 1980s.
During 1998 P&O Stena chartered Stena Royal for use on the Dover-Zeebrugge freight service. The ship was later renamed and refitted P&OSL Aquitaine.
The fleet remained the same until the purchase of Stena Line's share in the company by P&O in 2002. An announcement was made that the Dover-Zeebrugge service would close but the actual closure occurred under P&O Ferries management in December 2002
Brands
P&O Stena introduced the Brand World concept now found on many of the current P&O FerriesP&O Ferries
P&O Ferries is the current name for the amalgamation of a range of ferry services that operated from the United Kingdom to Ireland and Continental Europe...
fleet. Finnegan Consultancy Group developed and implemented the original Brand World strategy which brought about a standard image across the fleet.
The brands were:-
- Club Class
- Executive quiet lounge, not previously found on the former Stena Line vessels.
- Langan's Brasserie
- Replaced the waiter service restaurants on the Dover fleet.
- Harbour Coffee Company
- Café
- NYC Deli
- Sandwich Outlet
- First Base Burgers
- Fast Food Outlet/Burger Bar
- International Food Court
- Self-service restaurant.
- Silverstones Bar
- A Formula 1 based Sports Bar and Lounge. Features large scale models of F1 cars and general F1 memorabilia from Silverstone Circuit.
- Horizon Lounge
- Lounge area normally with a bar or Harbour Coffee Company outlet.
- Coca Cola Megadrome
- Video games arcade
As of 2007, P&O Ferries have begun removing some of their familiar Brand world theming throughout their fleet.
The three main affected brands are:
- Silverstones Bar has been replaced with "the bar"
- Horizons Lounge, now known as "the family lounge"
- Harbour Coffee Company has been changed to "the café"
Former P&O Stena operations today
The Dover-Calais service has essentially returned to its pre-merger P&O European Ferries form with no former Stena Line ships remaining. Ships that were to remain in the P&O Ferries fleet either returned to their original "Pride of" names (except PO Canterbury and PO Kent) or gained the prefix. European Pathway and European Highway were converted into multi-purpose vessels and became Pride of CanterburyPride of Canterbury
MS Pride of Canterbury is a cross-channel ferry operated by P&O Ferries between Dover and Calais.-History:MS Pride of Canterbury was the second of four 'European Class' freight ferries ordered for P&O European Ferries' Dover-Zeebrugge route. Between 1992 and 2002 she sailed between Dover and...
and Pride of Kent
Pride of Kent
MS Pride of Kent is a cross-channel ferry operated by P&O Ferries, generally on the Dover to Calais service.-History:Pride of Kent is the current 'flagship' of the P&O Dover-based fleet. Colloquially known as the Kent, she was built as the European Highway in 1991, a sister ship to the MS Pride of...
respectively replacing PO Canterbury and PO Kent which after the end of P&O Stena Line lost the '&' and 'SL' from their names. Pride of Provence
Pride of Provence
The MS Pride of Telemark is a ferry which previously sailed between Dover and Calais for P&O Ferries and Stena Line.-History:Built at Chantiers de France, Dunkerque and completed in 1983 as the Stena Jutlandica she sailed for Stena Line between Göteborg and Frederikshavn until 1996 when she was...
and Pride of Aquitaine were later withdrawn as part of the review of P&O Ferries operations announced in September 2004.
The Newhaven-Dieppe service was run by Transmanche Ferries but the service has been put out to tender in early 2007 as part of the French operators parent company plan. The successful bid was submitted by Paris based Louis Drefus (LD) Lines who also operate the Portsmouth - Le Havre service.