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| Founded | 1998 |
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| Defunct | 2002 |
| Successor | P&O Ferries |
| Headquarters | Dover, UK |
Area served | England, France |
| Services | Passenger transportation, Freight transportation |
| Parent | 60% P&O Ferries / 40% Stena Line |
P&O Stena Line was formed in 1998 after the merger of P&O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd and the Dover and Newhaven operations of Stena Line.
The idea for a joint service was initially put forward in July 1996 and in October of the same year signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the merger of their ferry interests on the Short Sea routes. The go ahead was given to the merger towards the end of 1997 by UK, French and EU authorities and the new company began on 10 March 1998 with joint livery being officially unveiled the day before. Ownership of the new company was 60/40 in favour of P&O with all shore and sea management performed by P&O. Voting rights between the two companies were 50/50.
Both P&O and Stena also put various building assets into the merger. An example of which was P&O Stena Line's "Central Preparation" kitchens in the western docks, and their training centre (both ex-British Rail buildings). Channel House, P&O's Dover headquarters were leased from P&O Corporate in London to P&O Stena Line.
The Newhaven-Dieppe service was closed in early 1999. P&O Stena was replaced on the route by Transmanche Ferries and Hoverspeed.
In April 2002, P&O announced its intention to buy out the 40% stake in P&O Stena Line owned by Stena and this was completed by August. P&O Stena Line then became part of P&O Ferries.
On completion of the merger, P&O European Ferries transferred eight vessels into the newly-formed company:
The first five being ROPAX ships sailing Dover to Calais, the last three being dedicated Freight only RORO vessels sailing Dover to Zeebrugge.
Stena Line transferred six vessels into the newly-formed company:
The first two vessels were sailing on the Newhaven to Dieppe route, the following three vessels on Dover to Calais, and the fastcraft Lynx III was a multipurpose HSC craft operating primarily from Newhaven, but also capable having done so in the past operating from Dover.
(The name Lynx is rooted in the company's past when operating as Stena Sealink Line – the company's first two HSC Craft were named Stena SeaLynx I and Stena SeaLynx II.)
It was decided due to the freight capacity of the Stena Invicta that she would be unviable in a service that had to cut its tonnage down as part of the merger agreements, so she was laid up in France awaiting charter and never saw active service with P&OSL. There was speculation that she would return to service with the company during the annual drydocking periods to serve as a relief vessel, but this never happened. Stena Antrim was also withdrawn immediately and was laid up until being sold.
Initially, the P&O Stena Line fleet was made up of 12 active vessels, these were:
Multi-purpose vessels
Freight ferries
Fastcraft
While all Dover vessels initially kept their pre-merger names, they were gradually changed during each vessel's annual refit and the P&OSL prefix was adopted in 1999 replacing Pride of and Stena prefixes. As a result, Stena Fantasia and Stena Empereur received new names of P&OSL Canterbury and P&OSL Provence respectively.
At Newhaven the Stena Lynx III was renamed Elite in advance of the merger, Stena Cambria kept its name until the closure of the Newhaven-Dieppe service at the start of 1999. The Elite fastcraft was returned to Stena Line and regained its original name, the Stena Cambria was sold.
It was originally intended that P&OSL Picardy would transfer to POSL's Newhaven-Dieppe route. It was planned that a central loading ramp between the upper and lower vehicle decks would be fabricated and fitted, as Dover vessels operate with two loading ramps, whilst many other ports only operate with one. However, this did not occur and the planned transfer never took place.
The P&OSL Picardy remained on the Dover-Calais route until 2001, and then spent several months laid up in France before being sold to a smaller rival firm operating from Ramsgate, TEF Shipping. Today she is the only one of the original three Spirit Class vessels still sailing in UK waters. The other active sister ship, P&OSL Kent is now sailing for a Greek operator. The third vessel was the ill-fated Herald of Free Enterprise that capsized off the port of Zeebrugge in the late 1980s.
During 1998, P&O Stena chartered Stena Royal for use on the Dover-Zeebrugge freight service. The ship was later renamed and refitted P&OSL Aquitaine.
The fleet remained the same until the purchase of Stena Line's share in the company by P&O in 2002. An announcement was made that the Dover-Zeebrugge service would close but the actual closure occurred under P&O Ferries management in December 2002.
P&O Stena introduced the Brand World concept now found on many of the current P&O Ferries fleet. Finnegan Consultancy Group developed and implemented the original Brand World strategy which brought about a standard image across the fleet.
The brands were:
As of 2007, P&O Ferries have begun removing some of their familiar Brand World theming throughout their fleet. The three main affected brands are:
The Dover-Calais service has essentially returned to its pre-merger P&O European Ferries form with no former Stena Line ships remaining. Ships that were to remain in the P&O Ferries fleet either returned to their original "Pride of" names (except PO Canterbury and PO Kent) or gained the prefix. European Pathway and European Highway were converted into multi-purpose vessels and became Pride of Canterbury and Pride of Kent respectively replacing PO Canterbury and PO Kent which after the end of P&O Stena Line lost the '&' and 'SL' from their names. Pride of Provence and Pride of Aquitaine were later withdrawn as part of the review of P&O Ferries operations announced in September 2004.
The Newhaven-Dieppe service was run by Transmanche Ferries but the service has been put out to tender in early 2007 as part of the French operators parent company plan. The successful bid was submitted by Paris-based Louis Drefus (LD) Lines, who also operate the Portsmouth - Le Havre service.
The POSL logo survives today, albeit across the other side of the globe from the English Channel, in Singapore. Austen Maritime Services is purportedly the last joint P&O/Stena operation, and although nothing to do with the Ferries operations, retains the logo. P&O has since sold it's shares in Austen Maritime Services to Northern Marine Austen Maritime Services no longer uses the P&O Stena Logo
Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year.
MS Pride of Dover was a cross-channel ferry built-in 1987 for Townsend Thoresen. One of two 'Chunnel Beater' ships she primarily operated on the Dover – Calais route alongside her sister ship the Pride of Calais for P&O Ferries Ferries until 2010.
P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe. The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It has been owned by Dubai-based DP World since 2019.
P&O European Ferries, a division of P&O Ferries, was a ferry company which operated in the English Channel from 1987 after the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, when Townsend Thoresen was renamed P&O European Ferries, until 1999 when the Portsmouth Operations became P&O Portsmouth and the Dover Operations were merged with Stena Line AB to make P&O Stena Line.
MS Sea Anatolia is a formercross-channel freight ferry, now owned by Sea Lines.
The MS Pride of Telemark was a ferry which previously sailed between Dover and Calais for P&O Ferries and Stena Line.
MS Pride of Burgundy was a cross-channel ferry owned by P&O Ferries. It operated on the Dover to Calais route from 1993 to 2022.
MS Pride of Canterbury is a cross-channel ferry operated by P&O Ferries between Dover and Calais.
MS Pride of Kent is a cross-channel ferry operated by P&O Ferries, it has operated on the Dover to Calais route from 2003 til its retirement in June 2023. Before that, between 1992 and 2002, it had operated on the Dover to Zeebrugge route. On 4th June it completed her final crossing from Calais to Dover before being taken out of service to allow its crew to be trained on her replacement the P&O Pioneer.
MS Isle of Innisfree is a passenger and car ferry to be operated by Irish Ferries between Dover and Calais. Originally built at Boelwerf as the Prins Filip originally sailing between Dover and Ostend, later between Ostend and Ramsgate, she has since 1997 operated for a wide variety of companies.
SeaFrance was a ferry company based in France, wholly owned by the French railways, SNCF, which operated ferry services between Calais, France, and Dover, England.
The MS Anthi Marina was a ferry operated by GA Ferries. She was the first of three 'Spirit' class ferries built for Townsend Thoresen, as MS Spirit of Free Enterprise. Her two sister ships were MS Pride of Free Enterprise and MS Herald of Free Enterprise.
Transmanche Ferries is a brand name for the ships on the Newhaven - Dieppe route across the English Channel. The ferry route is operated by DFDS Seaways.
The Channel Ports are seaports in southern England and northern France, which allow for short crossings of the English Channel. There is no formal definition, but there is a general understanding of the term. Some ferry companies divide their routes into "short" and "long" crossings. The broadest definition might be from Plymouth east to Kent and from Roscoff to Zeebrugge although a tighter definition would exclude ports west of Newhaven and Dieppe. A historic group of such ports is the Cinque Ports of south-east England, most of which have ceased to be commercial ports.
Stena Nordica is a ro-pax ferry owned and operated by Stena Line.
Poeta Lòpez Anglada is a passenger / car ferry owned and operated by Baleària. The ship is named after the Spanish writer Luis López Anglada.
The MS Bari was a ferry built in 1980 as the St Anselm for Sealink. Starting life on the Dover-Calais, she operated with Ventouris Ferries in her last routes in the Mediterranean.
MV Volcán de Tacande was a ferry last owned by Naviera Armas, which was operated on routes around the Canary Islands. She was built by Brodogradiliste Jozo Lozovina Mosor, Togir, Yugoslavia in 1974 for Stena Ab, Göteborg as a roll-on roll-off car and commercial vehicle ferry, under the name Stena Nordica. It was launched on 17 June 1973.
MS Wawel is a ferry launched in 1979 as the Scandinavia. She spent a large part of her career serving the Dover-Calais cross channel ferry route with successive operators. She is currently in service with Polferries as the Wawel.
MS Pride of Free Enteprise was a RORO Passenger and Freight ferry operating services between Almeria and Nador on a time-charter basis to the Spanish ferry operator Acciona Trasmediterranea. The ship was formerly called the M/F Oleander (2001-2013), P&OSL Picardy (1999-2001), Pride of Bruges (1987-1999) and Pride of Free Enterprise (1980-1987). She was operated by FerriMaroc and Comarit between 2010 and 2011 and previously owned and operated by TransEuropa Ferries between Ramsgate and Ostend. TransEuropa Ferries owned the ferry between 2001 and 2013 and operated her between 2001 and 2010 before placing her on charter. She was scrapped at Alang in late 2015 under the name Sher.
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