''Strait Feronia'' is a passenger, freight and vehicle or

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 owned and operated by

StraitNZ StraitNZ (formerly Strait Shipping Limited and Bluebridge) is a New Zealand transport firm that operates roll-on/roll-off freight and passenger shipping across the Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Isl ...

as part of its Bluebridge subsidiary."New Bluebridge ferry arrives in Wellington"
, accessed on 1 June 2015 The ship is a twin of . The vessel was initially named ''Mersey Viking'' and saw service in 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 ...

, eventually being renamed ''Dublin Viking'' and then ''Dublin Seaways''. The vessel was acquired by the

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 renamed ''Stena Feronia'' and saw service between

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

and Algericas and later between

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

and

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

History

The ''Strait Feronia'' was launched on 7 December 1996 as the Mersey Viking'' for the

ferry operator

Norse Irish Ferries Norse Irish Ferries was an Irish Sea ferry company that operated a passenger and freight roll-on/roll-off service between Belfast and Liverpool. History Norse Irish Ferries was formed as a joint venture between the Norwegian Roed Group and a c ...

. The ship was built by

Cantiere Navale Visentini Cantiere Navale di Visentini is a family owned Italy, Italian shipbuilder, based in Donada near Venice. The company is largest private shipbuilder in Italy. Deliveries Ferries Generation 1 / Other Generation 2 Generation 3 Gener ...

in Italy. The ship entered service in July 1997 operating between

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

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 ...

. She remained on this route until December 2005 when she moved to the

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 ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

route. Prior to transferring to the Dublin route the ship was renamed ''Dublin Viking''. On 7 August 2007 a

mooring rope A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''anc ...

at the ship's

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

parted whilst preparing to depart Dublin. Two people were injured by the parting rope. A member of the ship's crew later died of their injuries."Report on the investigation of the parting of a mooring line on board Dublin Viking"
, accessed 11 March 2012 Another name change occurred in August 2010. The vessel was renamed ''Dublin Seaways'' following

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 ...

's acquisition of

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 January 2011 DFDS Seaways closed the Birkenhead - Dublin route. The ''Dublin Seaways'' was sold to

and renamed ''Stena Feronia''. On 7 March 2012 the ''Stena Feronia'' collided with the cargo ship ''Union Moon'' just before entering the fairway of

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...

."Stena Line ferry collides with cargo ship in Belfast Lough"
, accessed 9 March 2012 The ''Stena Feronia'' was holed above the waterline but was able to berth safely in Belfast. In 2012, she was chartered to the Moroccan ferry operator; Inter Shipping for use between

and

Algeciras Algeciras ( , ) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeci ...

, she was used successfully for two years on that route before she was replaced in October 2014 by the

LD Lines LD Lines was a French shipping company, with both roro freight and passenger ferry operations. It was a subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), which engages in building, owning, operating, and managing vessels. LD Lines operated ferry ...

vessel, which had been chartered to Inter Shipping, The ''Stena Feronia'' then left service and was anchored off the coast of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

for a short while before she headed back to Belfast. She was laid up in Belfast before she covered for whilst she was off service when she was in dry dock at both Belfast and Falmouth at the beginning of December 2014, when the ''Stena Mersey'' returned to service ''Stena Feronia'' was removed from service on 21 December 2014 and was laid up in Belfast. She departed Belfast on 23 December and arrived in Sweden after Christmas where she was laid up. Starting from 26 January 2015 the vessel operated between

and

for eight weeks as a temporary replacement for the ''Stena Germanica'', which underwent a refit."Stena Feronia von Kiel nach Göteborg"
, accessed on 27 February 2015 In early 2015

Strait Shipping StraitNZ (formerly Strait Shipping Limited and Bluebridge) is a New Zealand transport firm that operates roll-on/roll-off freight and passenger shipping across the Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Islan ...

in New Zealand purchased the Stena Feronia and renamed her the ''Strait Feronia''. She was delivered in June 2015 after a 45-day sailing from Sweden.

Sister ships

The ''Strait Feronia'' was the first of two identical ships built by

for

. The second ship was launched as the ''Lagan Viking'' and is currently operating in the Baltic as the .

Gallery

File:Mersey Viking august 2003.jpg, ''Mersey Viking'' arriving in Belfast File:Dublin viking birkenhead april 2007.jpg, ''Dublin Viking'' berthed at Twelve Quays, Birkenhead File:Stena Feronia.jpg, ''Stena Feronia'' at Twelve Quays, Birkenhead

References

External links

Bluebridge website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strait Feronia Ships built in Italy Ships built by Cantiere Navale Visentini Ferry companies of New Zealand Cook Strait ferries Picton, New Zealand 1996 ships