Stena Line Holland BV

Stena Line Holland BV is a subsidiary of Stena Line that operates ferry routes to and from the Netherlands.

Hoek van Holland - Harwich

A passenger service has operated from Harwich to Hoek van Holland since the late 19th Century apart from a break during the Second World War. Up until 1990 the route was operated by two companies, one British and the other Dutch but since then Stena Line BV has been operating this route

History of the route

In the late 19th century the Great Eastern Railway (GER) wishing to compete with its rivals who were operating from the Kent coast to France and Belgium obtained the rights to provide a cargo and cattle service to Rotterdam. After first using chartered tonnage they carried passengers with the paddle steamer Zealous 613 gt, built in 1864 on the Thames by J & W Dudgeon. Dudgeons also supplied the 1865 built Avalon, 670 gt, which was powered by a two cylinder oscillating engine that gave a speed of 14 knots.Ships Monthly, July 2008. Page 46]

When the service first started ships bound for Rotterdam had to negotiate the Brielle Bar to enter the river Maas with access only possible at high water. Things improved in 1872 with the opening of the New Waterway which by-passed the Brielle Bar. The Great Eastern paddle steamer, Richard Young was the first seagoing vessel to use the direct link to the city.

In 1883 the Great Eastern Railway moved its English base from Harwich town to Parkeston Quay and in 1893 moved its Dutch operations from Rotterdam to the new rail terminus at the Hook of Holland. The first vessel to call at the "Hook" was the steamer Cambridge built in 1886 of 1,194 gt.

In 1893 the GER built the twin-screw Chelmsford to open a new night service. The new terminal in the Hook was situated on the north western end of the New Waterway and this saved two hours on the passage to Rotterdam itself. The new route enabled passengers to leave London in the evening and, after arrival in the Hook before 6 am, be in Amsterdam at breakfast time and reach Berlin by the end of the day. [Ships Monthly, July 2008. Page 47]

The service quickly became popular and GER used three ships to offer night sailings each way, every day except Saturday. By 1904 the GER had ceased operations to Rotterdam. The Dutch had their own services from Flushing, which was operated by Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (SMZ) which was created in 1875, which ran firstly to Queenborough near Sheerness and then to Folkestone.Ships Monthly, July 2008. Page 48]

On 1st January 1923 after the enforced re-grouping of the railway companies the route came under the control of the London and North Eastern Railway.

In 1926 SMZ moved its English port to Harwich providing day sailings but did not start using the Hook of Holland until after the Second World War. After both World Wars the Hook became a major port for troop movements, these operations continuing until 1961.

Post Second World War vessels on this route included the John Brown built Arnhem (1946). On 1st January 1948, after the nationalising of the British railway network, the route came under the control of British Railways. In 1950 the Amsterdam, also built by John Brown came into service and in 1963 the elegant Avalon was built for this route. SMZ added the motor ship the Koningin Wilhelmina in 1960.

In 1968 the two Ro-Ro passenger vessels the British owned St George and the Dutch owned Koningin Juliana came into service, the St George in July and the Koningin Juliana in October. This fully integrated service was operated from November 1968 under the Sealink banner with each ship leaving port by day and returning overnight.

In 1984 Sealink was bought by Sea Containers who continued to operate the British operations under the Sealink name. In 1989 SMZ was acquired by Stena Line and in 1990 Stena bought Sealink, thus for the first time, the Dutch and British operations were under the same ownership.

Operation under Stena BV

In 1990, when Stena Line took control of the route, the Harwich to Hoek van Holland service was being operated with two passenger and one freight ro-ro vessels. This continued until the 2nd June 1997, when with the introduction of the high speed ferry Stena Discovery, the two conventional ferries were taken off the route and an additional freight ferry was introduced.

Since 1996 Stena Line, in conjunction with Anglia Railways and its successors (currently National Express East Anglia) in the United Kingdom and Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Netherlands Railways, has been operating the integrated "Dutchflyer" service (named "Go-London" in the Netherlands), a rail/sea link between London and Amsterdam.

In June 2006 Stena Line announced that the high-speed catamaran ferry " [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/stena_discovery_1997.htm Stena Discovery] " would be withdrawn from service on 8 January, 2007. It had been carrying the majority of the passenger traffic on the Hoek van Holland–Harwich route. This service was halted due to the excessive cost of operating the ship and competition from the budget airlines [ [http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=fast%2Dtrips-ferry-axed-%26method=full%26objectid=18409948%26siteid=62484-name_page.html Sunday Mirror] Fast ferry axed] . The ferry consumed 180,000 litres of high grade fuel daily whilst doing its four crossings at speeds of up to 45 knots, about 75 kilometres per hour.

After the "Stena Discovery" was removed from service on the Hoek van Holland - Harwich route she was laid up in Belfast. For the time being she will replace her sister ferries, that sail between Ireland and Great Britain, when they are being dry-docked. Reportedly the "Stena Discovery" is up for sale with a price of 50 million euro.

To replace the "Stena Discovery" Stena Line invested 100 million euros in rebuilding the existing ferries of the route. The Ro-Pax vessels " [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/stena_britannica_2003.htm Stena Britannica] " and " [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/stena_hollandica_2001.htm Stena Hollandica] " were both lengthened and converted at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven so that they can carry additional passengers. Both ships are now 240 metres long, the "Stena Britannica" being lengthened by 28 metres and the "Stena Hollandica" by 52 metres. The "Stena Britannica" returned to service on 12th March 2007 and the "Stena Hollandica" on 14th May 2007.

In November 2006 Stena Line ordered [http://www.akeryards.com/upload/ships/hires/ferry_for_stena.jpgtwo new vessels] to be built at Aker Yards in Germany, these vessels will be the biggest in their fleet so far. [ [http://www.akeryards.com/?page=55&xml=A/134984/PR/200611/1087399 Aker Yards] To build the world's largest ferries for Stena ] . These vessels will replace the existing tonnage on the route. The first vessel is due to be delivered in either December 2009 or in early 2010 the second in mid 2010.

hips that have operated between Harwich and Rotterdam or Hoek van Holland

("Not complete")

hips of the Great Eastern Railway

[http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/feeders.html Feeder Lines, pt 1 ] ]

hips operated by Stena Line BV

Hoek van Holland - Killingholme

This route was inaugurated in October 2000 using two old freight RoRo ferries, the " [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/finncarrier_1969.htm Stena Searider] ", built in 1969, and the " [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/svealand_1973.htm Stena Seatrader] ", built in 1973. The success of this route has encouraged a further 200 million euro investment in two new, replacement, ferries for this service. The first vessel, the " [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/stena_trader_2006.htm Stena Trader] ", which replaced the Stena Seatrader, commenced operating on September 5, 2006 and the second vessel, the " [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/stena_traveller_2007.htm Stena Traveller] " went into service on 20th June 2007 replacing the Stena Searider.

Rotterdam (Europoort) - Harwich

This route is descended from the Felixstowe to Europort route that was operated by Townsend Thoresen. In 1987 Townsend Thoresen were taken over by P&O Ferries who in turn sold the route in 2002 to Stena who then moved the British end of the operation to Harwich.

References