In 2015, Stena Explorer ceased to function service between Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead. Two HSS 900 vessels were initially ordered, however following bankruptcy of the shipyard the place they were constructed, the second was scrapped at solely 30% full. This was to deliver bunker gasoline on board, she then lastly left for South America on 1 October 2009.
Routes
Stena Explorer, Stena Voyager and Stena Discovery were built to operate on the Irish Sea with Stena Carisma built for Scandinavian use. A Quantity Of patents were registered to Stena Line in the improvement of the HSS, and 4 vessels were accomplished between 1996 and 1997.
- As of November 2019, one vessel is laid up (Stena Carisma in Gothenburg, Sweden, whereas in 2013 Stena Voyager (on the Belfast-Stranraer route between 1996 and 2011) was despatched to Landskrona, Sweden to be scrapped.
- In 2011, Stena Voyager was withdrawn from service on the Belfast-Stranraer route to get replaced by two chartered conventional ferries, MS Stena Superfast VII and MS Stena Superfast VIII.
- The Stena Hollandica and Stena Britannica vessels now accept foot-passengers and were every stretched to 240 metres in length at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Germany in the spring of 2007.
- The latest of the craft was renamed HSS Discovery after being bought to a ferry firm in Venezuela throughout 2009.
Routes
In 2011, Stena Voyager was withdrawn from service on the Belfast-Stranraer route to get replaced by two chartered conventional ferries, MS Stena Superfast VII and MS Stena Superfast VIII. Stena Explorer was the final of the vessels to be retired in 2015 when Stena Line cancelled the fast ferry service between Holyhead, Wales and Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. Presently, not one of the 4 craft originally commissioned by Stena Line function. The operation was more economical as, with Venezuela being an oil-producing country, the unique downside of fuel prices ceased to exist. Renamed HSS Discovery, the ship was bought to function a route between the ports of La Guaira, Estado Vargas and El Guamache, Estado Nueva Esparta (Margarita Island). In 2009, the Stena Discovery was sold to the brand new Venezuelan firm Albamar (which does business as ‘Ferrymar’).
High-speed Sea Service or Stena HSS was a category of high-speed craft developed by and initially operated by Stena Line on European worldwide ferry routes. Until 2011, two equivalent 1500 passenger versions have been in operation on routes across the Irish Sea, while a smaller, 900 passenger model operated a route throughout the Kattegat. The latest of the craft was renamed HSS Discovery after being offered KSS AUTOS to a ferry company in Venezuela throughout 2009. The causes cited for the substitute by standard ferries have been reducing passenger patronage, coupled with escalating fuel prices.