This new book about Stena Line written by Bill Harvey commemorates 60 years of ship owning by the Swedish shipping giants.  It expands and brings right up to date Bill's earlier book about the company, published in 1989, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Stena group in 1939 and its first forays in the scrap metal business.  Founded by Sten Allan Olsson (hence Stena made up from the founder's first name and his middle initial) the company today remains very much involved with metal recycling but is probably best known through its shipping interests - notably the operation of passenger and freight ferry services throughout Northern Europe.

For Larne ferry buffs, 2006 also marks an important milestone in the long running story that links this Swedish shipping company with Larne.  40 years ago, in 1966, Stena first appearred on the scene at Larne when British Railways chartered the drive through car ferry Stena Nordica for their Larne - Stranraer service.  Making an instant impact with her modern facilities which included a bow visor, Stena Nordica was to shape the future car ferry design in the British Railway's fleet and was the first of several Stena ships or ex Stena ships to serve at Larne for the various operators of the time. 

Stena later were to star as a more major player at Larne Harbour when they purchased the former British Railway's fleet in 1990 and thus became operators of the Larne - Stranraer service themselves.  This relationship came to an end in 1995 when Stena decided the fortunes of their Stranraer route would be better served from a new base in Belfast instead of Larne.  Although the direct link with Stena was now over the fortunes of the P&O ferry services that remained in Larne after Stena's exodus rode along with the ebb and flow in Stena's fortunes at their new Belfast base with their new innovative HSS vessel Stena Voyager.

	Stena Nordica first appeared at Larne in 1966 making Stena's introduction to the port.  She served British Railway's ferry route to Stranraer and became the first of many Stena ships to play a key role on the various ferry services from Larne.
	No sooner was Stena Nordica returned to her owners than British Railways went back to Stena for further tonnage for their Stranraer route in 1971.  This time they took the brand new freighter Stena Trailer (I) on charter and she was renamed Dalriada
	Bison was originally built to Stena's design in 1975 and allocated the name Stena Trailer (3) but she never sailed under that name.  She was bought by her prospective charterers P&O and given the name Bison for service on the new ro-ro route between Larne and Fleetwood.  31 years later she is still there and back in Stena ownership as Stena Pioneer.
	The Jaguar was a close sister to the Bison but built in Austria rather than the German yard of J.J. Sietas as Bison was.  She served Fleetwood as Jaguar and was to return under her original Stena name Stena Timer (1) on the Stranraer service.
	Sister ship to Jaguar, the Stena Topper (1) became Darnia and served Larne from 1978 to 1991 on the Stranraer route.  This versatile ship was later modified to include extra passenger accommodation.  Adaptable designs were such a common trait in Stena built ships that it has since generated its own catchphrase -Stenability
Former Larne favourite Stena Galloway pictured departing Belfast for Stranraer while HSS Stena Voyager arrives from Scotland.

Stena were eventually to trade once more from Larne in 2004 after an absence of 9 years when they bought from P&O the Larne - Fleetwood service as well as the 3 vessels operating on it which became known as Stena Pioneer, Stena Seafarer and Stena Leader.  When they passed to Stena control all three vessels returned to the company that originally commissioned their building in 1975.  Stena now face some difficult times ahead with their Northern Ireland routes from Belfast and Larne in the light of increasing fuel costs and fierce competition from other operators including low cost airlines.  However, with their world famous innovation and their track record of investment Stena will no doubt have something up their sleeve to continue profitable operation in this difficult market.

However, the Stena story isn't just one of ferries, as this book clearly illustrates.  There are very few areas of the maritime world that remain untouched by Stena's influence.  Vessels ranging from bulk carriers and tankers to oil drilling rigs and their associated support vessels can be found among the fleet.  Beyond ship owning, Stena also provide a range of services to the shipping industry from designing state of the art ships right up to being the nameless face that provides commercial or technical management for fleets of ships that do not even carry the now world famous Stena prefix that was first used on the 1965 built Stena Nordica. 

The book contains little in the way of lengthy prose, instead the majority of the writing is laid out like a reference book with each ship Stena has had involvement with no matter how small listed in date order.  Whether they owned the ship, managed it or chartered it there will be an entry for the ship in the book with the majority of the ships being illustrated with an accompanying photograph.  To make things easier to find the book is split into four key sections which conveniently carve up Stena's main shipping interests.  Following a useful company overview which lists the main changes to the company year by year, the dry cargo fleet is listed in part 1 followed by part 2 which details Stena's tanker operations.  Part 3 is by far the most extensive section which covers the passenger and ro-ro cargo operations with Stena's offshore support operations listed in the final section 4.

The book has been updated right up until it went to press as details are correct to February 2006 and thus includes Stena's charter of the Sea Runner for overhaul relief on the Larne - Fleetwood service.  With each unique vessel entry the ship's dimensions and engine data are presented and this is impressive in its completeness as it includes all the changes throughout the ship's life even after Stena has passed the ship on to new operators.  Thereafter follows an short but clear account of the ship's working life, and its only by reading this will the lay man begin to understand the quite complicated world of ship owning as very often the company name painted along the side of the ship is quite a contrast to the company that actually owns the ship.

For anybody with an interest in ships they will find nothing else out there about the Stena shipping empire that comes close to matching this title in coverage of the entire group.  If you want to find out about Stena then this is where you need to look.

The book is available from the World Ship Society, pricing and ordering information is available by following this link.

(Reviewed by LFW 28/5/06 all pictures taken from the book and reproduced with permission)

Updated: 05/06/06

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