MS ''Stena Scandica'' is a

RoPax Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

, owned by

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...

and it operates on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

between

Nynäshamn Nynäshamn is a locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid 19th Century, it was only with the opening of the ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

History

''Stena Scandica'' was built in July 2005, as ''Lagan Viking'', entering service with

Norse Merchant Ferries Norse Merchant Ferries was an Irish Sea ferry company that operating passenger and freight RORO services between England the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. History Norse Merchant Ferries was created in October 1999 when Cenargo, ...

later the same month. It was named after the

River Lagan The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs 53.5 miles (86 km) from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The ...

, the principal river in Belfast. A few months later, Norse Merchant Ferries was acquired by

Norfolkline Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English channel and Irish Sea; and lo ...

. In July 2010, Norfolkline was acquired by

DFDS DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ...

. The vessel was renamed ''Lagan Seaways'' during her refit in August 2010. Later that same year, DFDS sold its Northern Irish operations to

. The sale included the

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

–

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

route and ''Lagan Seaways''

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, ''Mersey Seaways''. In August 2011, she was renamed ''Stena Lagan'' Lagan seaways belfast april 2011

In March 2020, '' Stena Edda'' arrived from China to replace ''Stena Lagan'' on the Belfast to Birkenhead route. ''Stena Lagan'' departed for

Tuzla, Istanbul Tuzla is a municipality of the province in Istanbul, Turkey on the Asian side of the city next to the municipality of Pendik. Tuzla is on a headland on the coast of Marmara Sea, at the eastern limit of the city. The mayor is Şadi Yazıcı ( AK ...

on 14 March 2020, for lengthening with a midsection. Beside the lengthening, she received a new bow. The ship was renamed ''Stena Scandica'' before the end of 2020. On August 29, 2022 a fire started in a cooling container on the car deck whilst en route to Latvia, close to

Gotska Sandön Gotska Sandön (literally translated as "The Gotlandic Sand Island") is an uninhabited Swedish island north of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. It has been a national park since 1909. Geography Gotska Sandön is situated north of Fårö in the Balt ...

off the Swedish east coast. Although the crew could extinguish the fire without injuries, it caused a loss of power, and the ferry drifting towards the coast of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

. Several passengers were evacuated by helicopter to the nearby ferry M/S Visby who continued toward Gotland. After several hours, two of the engines could be started. On August 30, Stena Scandica arrived in Nynäshamn, Sweden under her own power.

Route

''Stena Lagan'' operated on the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

, on the Birkenhead to Belfast route, with her sister ship ''Stena Mersey''. In all, the total journey time on board the ship was 8 hours. From early 2021, ''Stena Scandica'' operates on the

between

and

On board

''Stena Lagan'' carried up to 720 passengers. As ''Stena Scandica'', the ship's capacity was increased to 970 passengers, with the 2020-21 lengthening of the ship.

References

External links

DFDS Seaways website

Norfolkline website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stena Scandica Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of Northern Ireland Ferries of England Ferries of Sweden Ferries of Latvia 2005 ships Scandica Ships built by Cantiere Navale Visentini Ships built in Italy