# First look at the Superfast X: the new ferry set to link Wales with



## Geoff Gower (Sep 8, 2011)

The ferry, which will sail from Holyhead to Dublin Port for the first time next week, has left the Polish shipyard in Gdynia where staff have been working round the clock to get the vessel ready for launch. The launch of the service comes just weeks after the ferry operator scrapped a fast ferry service between Anglesey and Dun
Laoghaire. The ferry will have 10 decks, carry up to 1,200 passengers, and offer almost 2km of “lane space” for vehicles and freight traffic. Its facilities will include cabins, a cafe, bar and grill, a shop, two free cinemas and a family lounge featuring a play area and Xbox stations. Ian Davies, Stena Line’s route manager for Irish Sea South, said: “Providing additional capacity and facilities to expand our Holyhead-Dublin route with the introduction of Stena Superfast X is an important strategic development for Stena Line on the Irish Sea at this time.“Our freight and travel customers will now be able to benefit from an enhanced service on this key trade and tourism gateway at a time when commercial and leisure traffic between Ireland and Britain are both showing really encouraging signs of future growth. “By introducing a much larger ship onto the route, we are demonstrating our confidence and commitment to driving
forward the economies on both sides of the Irish Sea.“ In the last five years alone Stena Line has invested over £250m across its Irish Sea operations and we are confident that the improving economic climate in Ireland and Britain will show that this significant resource commitment has been extremely well timed.” The Stena Superfast X will make two return sailings daily between Holyhead and Dublin, completing the crossing in three hours and 15 minutes. Superfast X will operating alongside the Stena Adventurer, providing Stena Line customers with a choice of up 28 return sailings per week all year round on the route.The sneak glimpse of the new ferry comes just weeks after the company announced the HSS Explorer fast ferry service from Holyhead to Ireland is to be scrapped.The fast ferry service - which runs from Anglesey to the port of Dun Laoghaire - had been in jeopardy for several years after fuel prices spiralled, making the 1,600-passenger service increasingly unviable.The
company said it would be concentrating on expanding its existing ferry service at Dublin Port while at the same time confirming that it is withdrawing its HSS Stena Explorer service from Dun Laoghaire
Harbour.


_____________________________________________________________________________________


----------



## montyblue (Jan 11, 2015)

Nice to hear of the new ship but it will sadly confirm the death knell for Dun Laoghaire. I can well imagine many businesses in that area closing. I always found that Dun Laoghaire was the quickest exit to the south or west coasts although matters may have changed since I was last there


----------



## 5036 (Jan 23, 2006)

montyblue said:


> Nice to hear of the new ship but it will sadly confirm the death knell for Dun Laoghaire. I can well imagine many businesses in that area closing. I always found that Dun Laoghaire was the quickest exit to the south or west coasts although matters may have changed since I was last there


The kids will be upset if they can's sail their Mirror dinghies between the hulls, it used to be a right of passage and it really upset the harbour master.


----------



## Erimus (Feb 20, 2012)

Thanks for new info...know Stena had something in pipeline from regular e-shots...
I too will miss the more southerly landing when visiting our family in the Wicklows...

geoff.


----------



## beedeesea (Feb 28, 2006)

Perhaps some hope of another operator taking over the service, even if only on a seasonal basis:
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/fast-ferry-could-return-holyhead-8789943

Brian


----------



## ben27 (Dec 27, 2012)

good day geoff gower.sm.yesterday,21:39.re:first look at the super fast x :new ferry set to link?thank you for the shipping news,always interesting,regards ben27


----------



## howardws (Aug 15, 2009)

Not exactly new, she was launched in 2000 and Seafrance and then My Ferry Link ran her in Dover for a few years.


----------



## ben27 (Dec 27, 2012)

good day howardws sm, today,05:19.#7.re:first look at superfast x,thank you for the launch date,but shes new to me,regards ben27


----------



## bobharrison2002 (Apr 12, 2008)

A ship with a very chequered past - to be hoped Stena have better luck with her than all the previous owners.


----------



## barney b (Mar 31, 2008)

*times gone past*

It would appear passenger ferries are going backwards on the Irish routes.Three hours and fifteen mins is not very fast on the Holyhead route.In the late 1800s the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company operated twin screw steamers named after the four provinces of Ireland. the Leinster became the first cross channel steamer to exceed 24 knots, and these ships were by far the fastest passenger steamer vessels afloat at the time.
On a trial trip in August in 1896 from Holyhead to Dunlaoghaire pier the Ulster completed the trip in the remarkable time of Two hours and Sixteen minutes,just one hour faster than today's super ferries on the same route. The booked time for the ships on this route just before the Second World War was Two Hours and Fifty Five minutes, even then still twenty minutes faster than today's conventional ferry.Superfast X is not so fast after all.(Cloud)


----------



## Coastie (Aug 24, 2005)

barney b said:


> It would appear passenger ferries are going backwards on the Irish routes.Three hours and fifteen mins is not very fast on the Holyhead route.*In the late 1800s the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company operated twin screw steamers named after the four provinces of Ireland.* the Leinster became the first cross channel steamer to exceed 24 knots, and these ships were by far the fastest passenger steamer vessels afloat at the time.
> On a trial trip in August in 1896 from Holyhead to Dunlaoghaire pier the Ulster completed the trip in the remarkable time of Two hours and Sixteen minutes,just one hour faster than today's super ferries on the same route. The booked time for the ships on this route just before the Second World War was Two Hours and Fifty Five minutes, even then still twenty minutes faster than today's conventional ferry.Superfast X is not so fast after all.(Cloud)


I remember my mother telling me about the Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht.(sp?)


----------



## Tony Collins (Aug 29, 2010)

My favourite ship on the Holyhead/Dun Laoghaire route was always the "Stena Hibernia" of 1977 vintage. I opted for her whenever I could. She pitched a bit, but didn't roll much. I was on her only a week before she was knocked down. I am convinced that her central longitudinal bulkhead saved her that night. I would have happily travelled on her again afterwards. The smaller fast ferries put on the route couldn't handle the weather. I always felt that "sailing" on the HSS was like travelling in a motorway service area. Last I heard, the "Hibernia" was still plying her trade in the eastern Mediterranean, but that was about five years ago. Long may she do so.


----------

