MS Stena Superfast VIII

300px MS Superfast VIII near Helsinki, June 2007.
History
Name:	Stena Superfast VIII
Owner:	2002–06: Superfast Ferries 2006 onwards: Tallink
Operator:	2002–06: Superfast Ferries 2006–11: Tallink 2011 onwards: Stena Line
Port of registry:	2002–06: Piraeus, Greece 2006–11: Paldiski, Estonia 2011 onwards: Belfast, United Kingdom
Route:	Belfast–Cairnryan
Builder:	HDW, Kiel, Germany
Yard number:	358
Launched:	28 November 2000
Acquired:	11 July 2001
Maiden voyage:	15 July 2001
In service:	15 July 2001
Identification:	IMO number: 9198953 Call sign: 2EZR4 MMSI number: 235089436
Status:	In service
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type:	Superfast VII class fast ropax ferry
Tonnage:	30,285 GT
Displacement:	5,990 t (5,900 long tons) deadweight (DWT)
Length:	203.3 m (667 ft)
Beam:	25.42 m (83 ft 5 in)
Height:	40.00 m (131.23 ft)
Draught:	6.60 m (21 ft 8 in)
Decks:	10
Ice class:	1 A Super
Installed power:	4 × Wärtsilä-Sulzer NSD ZA V40S diesels combined 46,000 kW (62,000 shp)
Speed:	30.4 kn (56.3 km/h)
Capacity:	626 passengers 661 cars 1,920 lane meters
General characteristics (in Stena Service)
Class & type:	Superfast VII class fast ropax ferry
Length:	203.3 m (667 ft)
Beam:	25.42 m (83 ft 5 in)
Deck clearance:	4.7 m, 5.2 m on central 4 lanes of the upper vehicle deck
Installed power:	4 × Wärtsilä-Sulzer NSD ZA V40S main engines producing 11,500 kW each(total 46,000 kW (62,000 shp)), coupled to 2 × 5.2 m KaMeWa propellers via 2 × Schelde dual input single output gearboxes 3 × MAN B&W 8L28/32H, producing a total of 1,848 kW each @ 510 rpm
Propulsion:	2 × 5.2 m KaMeWa propellers 3 × 925 kW KaMeWa bow thrusters 1 × 1,350 kW stern thruster
Speed:	20 kn (37.0 km/h) - 22 kn (40.7 km/h)
Capacity:	1,200 passengers 661 cars or 110 trailers (or a mix of both)
Notes:	Entered Stena service along with her sister Stena Superfast VII on 21/11/2011.

MS Stena Superfast VIII is a fast Ro-Pax ferry operated by Stena Line between Belfast and Cairnryan. The ship is owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink and was built in 2001 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), Kiel, Germany for Attica Group's subsidiary Superfast Ferries. She was sold to her current owners in 2006.

In March 2006 Superfast sold its Baltic Sea operations to Tallink. Like her sisters, the Superfast VIII was moved from Finnish to Estonian registry, and her route changed to Hanko–Paldiski–Rostock from April 2006 onwards. The call at Paldiski proved to be impractical, and already in June of the same year the route reverted to Hanko–Rostock. Around this time the ship's hull markings were changed to "Superfast operated by Tallink". Although there were rumours that the ships would be moved under Silja Line's brand from January 2007 onwards, they were instead officially made a part of Tallink's fleet. At the same time their route changed to Tallinn–Helsinki–Rostock. Between 5 and 12 April 2007 the ship was used on the Helsinki–Tallinn route due to a delay in the delivery of the new MS Star. After this she joined her sisters in the Rostock service.

Stena Line charter

In March 2011, Stena Line announced it would be chartering the Superfast VIII and sister ship Superfast VII. The vessels now operate on crossings of the North Channel separating Ireland and Britain; between Belfast and Cairnryan, at a new facility built by Stena Line called Loch Ryan Port. in February 2014, Stena renewed the charter of these ships until Autumn 2019. Stena Superfast VIII has been voted the top ship in the entire Stena Line fleet by Stena customers for both 2013 and 2014.

Conversion to day ferries

Before the two sisters entered service for Stena Line, an extensive refurbishment/conversion overseen by Stena Ro-Ro and Knud E Hansen was undertaken at the Remontowa Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland. This was rumoured at the time to have cost a total of €14M. As part of this conversion, the free height of the upper vehicle deck was raised to 5.05 m allowing Stena to carry full height freight. Both ships also received an additional bow thruster to improve manoeuvrability, taking their complement to 3 bow thrusters and 1 stern thruster. As the new port in Scotland had a TTS automated mooring system installed, the ships where also adapted to work with this by adding 3 steel bollards on the starboard side bow.

Conversion of passenger spaces

In order to reduce cabin capacity and increase the range of passenger facilities, Deck 8 was converted from a cabin deck to a public deck and contains a truckers' lounge, cinema, pod lounge, living room, news room, magazine lounge, barista coffee bar, and Stena Plus lounge in place of the 128 cabins which were removed. The majority of deck 7 is now occupied by the Taste restaurant and the Met Bar (which has slightly raised flooring at the front of its lounge in order to accommodate the extra height required by the car deck below) with guest services, children’s play area, Stena shopping, and a video game arcade occupying the remaining space. Deck 9 is inaccessible to the public and is totally given over to crew accommodation. The remaining deck accessible to the public is deck 10, which contains The Pure Nordic Spa, the Superfast Suites, and an extensive outside sun deck. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the vessel, and is provided by a Marlink Sealink system which was installed by Stena. In service, the two lower car decks are rarely used, with cars normally being carried on the vehicle decks along with freight.

During March 2015, some areas of Stena Superfast VII and VIII where refurbished whilst the ships where individually dry docked at Harland and Wolff. As part of this work, the colour schemes in the Met Bar and Stena Plus where changed to reflect the latest Stena corporate style.

On-board Facilities (Stena Line)

Deck 1

Car deck (39 cars)

Deck 2

Car deck (43 cars)

Deck 3

Main vehicle deck (52 standard height trailers)

Deck 5

Upper vehicle deck (58 trailers – 30 with 5.05 metres free height (4 lanes))

Deck 7

• Taste restaurant
• Metropolitan Bar
• Stena Shopping
• Video game arcade
• Children’s play area
• Guest services
• Promenade deck and smoking area

Deck 8

• Truckers lounge (with outside smoking area)
• Barista coffee bar
• Cinema
• Pod lounge
• Gambling machines
• Living room
• News room
• Magazine Lounge
• Stena Plus Lounge (chargeable extra)

Deck 9

Crew accommodation deck (Not accessible to the public)

• Crew cabins
• Mess room
• Hobby room / Lounge
• Smoking room
• Hospital and First aid room
• Sauna
• Laundry facilities
• Gym

Deck 10

• Pure Nordic Spa (chargeable extra)
• Superfast Suites (chargeable extra)
• Sun Deck
• Navigational Bridge (not accessible to public)

Deck 11

Helicopter winching area (not accessible to public)

Other information

Stena Superfast VIII and her sister, Stena Superfast VII, are managed by Northern Marine Management, a Stena owned company.

On Stena Superfast VII, when viewed from above, the uppermost deck is coloured blue. On Stena Superfast VIII this deck is sand coloured. This is one of very few differences between the two sister ships. Stena Superfast X also has this deck coloured blue, however she can be distinguished from her sisters by the lack of 'wing tips' on her funnel.

External links

• M/S Superfast VIII at Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish)
• Superfast VIII at marinetraffic.com
• Stena Superfast VII and VIII at NIFerrysite.co.uk