Stena Nordica - Hellas (1) - Stena Nautica - Reine Astrid - Moby Kiss - Al Mansour
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of the Stena Nordica of 1975, which later served as Reine Astrid, and Al Mansour.
Stena Nordica was built in 1975 for Stena Line, the last in a series of four ships intended for charter work. Her sisters were Stena Normandica (1974), Stena Atlantica (1975), and Stena Nautica (1975). They were designed and built by Rickmers Werft, Bremerhaven, who achieved a very high vehicle capacity for the overall size, the downside of which was the very boxy appearance.
Stena Nordica was delivered in November 1975, and entered service with Stena Line between Göteborg-Kiel. Between May and November 1975, Stena Nordica was chartered to Marine Atlantic for their North Sydney-Port Aux Basques route. Unlike her sisters Marine Nautica and Marine Atlantica, she was not renamed. At the end of the charter, Stena Nordica resumed service with Stena Line on their Göteborg-Frederikshavn route. Repeats of the Marine Atlantic charter was made during the summers of 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981, separated by a period with European Ferries, on the Felixstowe and Zeebrugge route, through the winter of 1977-78. In September 1978, Stena Nordica was chartered to Hellas Ferries, running between Volos and Lattakia (Syria) as the Hellas (1). This charter was repeated in 1980 and 1981. Name reverted to Stena Nordica between these Hellas charters, which between February-April 1980, included a charter to Sealink for use between Fishguard and Rosslare. When not in service as Hellas (1), her place was taken by the Stena ro-ro ferry Stena Runner (now Stena Transfer), running as Hellas (2). In 1980, Stena Nordica was chartered to B&I Line for service between Rosslare and Pembroke Dock. She visited Birkenhead from November 1980 to February 1981 for engine repairs.
After the 1981-82 Hellas Ferries charter, Stena Nordica was renamed Stena Nautica, a name previously carried by one of her sisters. She was chartered to RMT, who purchased her the following year in 1983, and renamed her Reine Astrid. Reine Astrid operated for RMT successfully until 1997, despite being much slower than other ships in the fleet. She initially ran between Oostende and Dover, moving to Oostende-Ramsgate in 1994. In 1997, Reine Astrid was sold to Moby Lines and renamed Moby Kiss, but was soon chartered to Comanav (Compagnie Marocaine de Navigation), for service between Algeciras and Tangier as the Al Mansour. Al Mansour was purchased by Comanav in 1998.
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Stena Runner - Alpha Progress - Hellas (2) - Doric Ferry - European Tideway - Stena T
Stena Runner was one of a class of 11 sister ships built by Hyundai in South Korea between 1977/78. They were built by Stena Line for charter or sale, and Stena Runner's first charter was to Arghiris Line of Greece, as the Alpha Progress. In 1979 she had a brief charter to Tor Line. Alpha Progress was then rebuilt with extra passenger and freight accommodation at Hapag Lloyd Werft, Bremerhaven, before passing to Hellas Ferries as the Hellas (2), for a service from Greece to Syria. In 1981 Hellas returned to Hapag Lloyd Werft for lengthening. In 1981 she was chartered to Townsend Thoresen European Ferries, returning later to Hellas ferries. Years for which she operated as Hellas (2) were 1979, 1980-1982 and 1983-1986, with some of the intermediate years being covered by the Stena Nordica of 1975, which also operated with Hellas Ferries as Hellas (1). In 1986 Hellas (2) was purchased by Townsend Thoresen European Ferries, becoming the Doric Ferry on services from Felixstowe. In 1992, the charter passed to P&O European Ferries when P&O acquired the Townsend Thoresen routes, and she was renamed European Tideway. In 1994 European Tideway was puchased by P&O, remaining on Felixstowe-Rotterdam (Europoort service). In 2002, the P&O Felixstowe services were sold to Stena Line. European Tideway was briefly renamed Ideway before becoming Stena Transfer. The UK terminal for the Europoort service was moved to Harwich. Pictures at Harwich are shown from 03/07/2004, 17/09/2005 and 19/11/2005.
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