MS Stena Germanica (2000)

See also: MV Stena Hollandica

Stena Germanica berthed on its German terminal at Gothenburg, Sweden.
History
Name	2001–2010: Stena Hollandica 2010: Stena Germanica III 2010 onwards: Stena Germanica
Operator	Stena Line
Port of registry	2001–2010: Hook of Holland. Netherlands 2010 onwards: Göteborg, Sweden
Route	Gothenburg-Kiel
Builder	Astilleros Españoles, Spain
Launched	6 May 2000
Identification	IMO number: 9145176 MMSI number: 266331000 Callsign: SLDW
Status	In service
General characteristics after 2010 rebuild
Class and type	Seapacer
Tonnage	51,837 GT
Length	240 m (787 ft 5 in)
Beam	29 m (95 ft 2 in)
Draught	6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Installed power	4 x Sulzer 8ZAL40S diesel engines
Propulsion	2 × Controllable pitch propellers 3 × Bow thrusters
Speed	21.5 knots
Capacity	1,300 passengers 300 cars

Stena Germanica is a large cruiseferry operated by Stena Line between Gothenburg and Kiel, together with MS Stena Scandinavica (2002). Between 2001 and 2010, as Stena Hollandica she operated on the Harwich to Hook of Holland service.

History

Stena Germanica was built by Astilleros Españoles shipyard in Puerto Real, Spain. She entered service between Harwich and Hook of Holland on 9 March 2001 as Stena Hollandica.

In January 2007, the high speed ferry Stena Discovery was withdrawn from service. To accommodate the extra traffic the Stena Hollandica was sent to the Lloyd Werft yard in Bremerhaven in March 2007 for lengthening. The vessel was cut in two vertically and a 52-metre section was inserted, making this the biggest enlargement ever made to a RoPax vessel.

In May 2010, Stena Hollandica was replaced on the Harwich–Hook of Holland route by the first of two 62,000 ton superferries. Stena Hollandica underwent an extensive refit at the Remontowa shipyard in Gdańsk, re-entering service in August 2010 on the Gothenburg – Kiel route as Stena Germanica III. She was renamed Stena Germanica a month later.

Methanol

The Stena Germanica is the first major marine vessel to run on recycled methanol after a conversion in 2015 in Poland. Relative to conventional marine bunker fuels, methanol reduces emissions significantly. For reliability purposes, the common rail engine can still run on the marine gas oil as backup. Operation on methanol is expected to reduce SOx emissions by 99%, NOx by 60%, carbon dioxide by 25% and particulate matter by 95%.

Sister ships

Stena Germanica is the last of four Seapacer class ships built by Astilleros Españoles for Stena Line. The first two vessels, Finnclipper and Finneagle were built in 1998 and chartered to Finnish ferry operator Finnlines. The next two vessels, Stena Britannica and Stena Hollandica were built in 2000 and operated by Stena Line themselves.

References

Lloyd's Register (2015). " LR to class the world's first-ever methanol-powered sea vessel". Retrieved 2015-01-09, from http://www.lr.org/en/news-and-insight/news/lr-to-class-the-worlds-first-ever-methanol-powered-sea-vessel.aspx