MS Stena Cambria
Encyclopedia
MS Stena Cambria is a ferry launched in 1980 as the St Anselm for Sealink
. Starting life on the Dover
-Calais
, she now operates as the Bari with Ventouris Ferries
in the Mediterranean.
services in the English Channel
. She was launched at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast
on 5 December 1979 and completed her maiden voyage on 27 October 1980 .
After two years in service, on 31 December 1982 , the St Anselm returned to Belfast
for a £750,000 extension to her aft decks . This extension provided an enlarged duty free shopping area and additional accommodation, increasing her tonnage by to and her passenger capacity to 1,400 . On 28 March 1983 during her trip back to Dover
through the Irish Sea
, the St Anselm was temporarily brought into service on the Fishguard
-Rosslare
route following the failure of s engines .
In 1990, the St Anselm was displaced from the Dover
-Calais
route by Sealink
s acquisition of the Fantasia
, the St Anselm instead took up a service operating between Folkestone
and Boulogne . Not long after this transition, Sealink
was acquired by Stena Line
, in 1991 the St Anselm was transferred to Holyhead
, being renamed the Stena Cambria as a refit relief during February and March , briefly returning to Dover
before resuming service in the Irish Sea
in July that same year .
announced they would be terminating the pooling agreement that had been in place with Stena Sealink Line
, which as a result, dropped the "Sealink" name, becoming just Stena Line
. As a result of the loss of the two French
vessels, Stena Line
transferred the Stena Cambria and the Stena Empereur back to the Dover
-Calais
route for the 1996 season . In March 1997 she provided refit relief in Stranraer
and on 3 May 1997 became the last conventional ferry to sail out of Holyhead
having provided overhaul relief for the . In March 1998 she transferred to the Newhaven
-Dieppe
route under the newly formed P&O Stena Line
, staying there until the routes withdrawal in January 1999 .
and Ibiza
that November as the Isla de Botafoc. In August 2003, UMAFISA and the Isla de Botafoc were acquired by rivals, Balearia
. She continued services with Balearia
to Ibiza
and Menorca until her eventual sale to Ventouris Ferries
of Greece
in 2010, briefly being renamed Winner 9 and then to the Bari .
Sealink
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland....
. Starting life on the Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
-Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, she now operates as the Bari with Ventouris Ferries
Ventouris Ferries
Ventouris Ferries is a Greek company that operates ferry services from Italy to Greece and Albania.-Routes:Ventouris Ferries operates two routes across the Adriatic Sea.*Bari - Durres*Bari - Corfu - Igoumenitsa-Fleet:...
in the Mediterranean.
Sealink
The Stena Cambria started life as the St Anselm, order by and for SealinkSealink
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland....
services in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. She was launched at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
on 5 December 1979 and completed her maiden voyage on 27 October 1980 .
After two years in service, on 31 December 1982 , the St Anselm returned to Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
for a £750,000 extension to her aft decks . This extension provided an enlarged duty free shopping area and additional accommodation, increasing her tonnage by to and her passenger capacity to 1,400 . On 28 March 1983 during her trip back to Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
through the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
, the St Anselm was temporarily brought into service on the Fishguard
Fishguard
Fishguard is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, with a population of 3,300 . The community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5043 at the 2001 census....
-Rosslare
Rosslare Harbour
The village of Rosslare Harbour grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name , first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Railway to accommodate steamferry traffic between Great Britain and Ireland...
route following the failure of s engines .
In 1990, the St Anselm was displaced from the Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
-Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
route by Sealink
Sealink
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland....
s acquisition of the Fantasia
MS Stena Fantasia
MS Stena Fantasia 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...
, the St Anselm instead took up a service operating between Folkestone
Folkestone
Folkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site was in a valley in the sea cliffs and it developed through fishing and its closeness to the Continent as a landing place and trading port. The coming of the railways, the building of a ferry port, and its...
and Boulogne . Not long after this transition, Sealink
Sealink
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland....
was acquired by Stena Line
Stena Line
Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...
, in 1991 the St Anselm was transferred to Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
, being renamed the Stena Cambria as a refit relief during February and March , briefly returning to Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
before resuming service in the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
in July that same year .
Stena Line
In July 1995, SNATSNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
announced they would be terminating the pooling agreement that had been in place with Stena Sealink Line
Sealink
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland....
, which as a result, dropped the "Sealink" name, becoming just Stena Line
Stena Line
Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...
. As a result of the loss of the two French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
vessels, Stena Line
Stena Line
Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...
transferred the Stena Cambria and the Stena Empereur back to the Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
-Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
route for the 1996 season . In March 1997 she provided refit relief in Stranraer
Stranraer
Stranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
and on 3 May 1997 became the last conventional ferry to sail out of Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
having provided overhaul relief for the . In March 1998 she transferred to the Newhaven
Newhaven, East Sussex
Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...
-Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
route under the newly formed P&O Stena Line
P&O Stena Line
P&O Stena Line was formed in 1998 after the merger of P&O European Ferries Ltd and the Dover and Newhaven operations of Stena Line.-History:...
, staying there until the routes withdrawal in January 1999 .
Post P&O Stena Line
Following the routes withdrawal in January 1999, the Stena Cambria was laid up in Zeebrugge awaiting sale , eventually being purchased by UMAFISA, entering service for them between BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
that November as the Isla de Botafoc. In August 2003, UMAFISA and the Isla de Botafoc were acquired by rivals, Balearia
Baleària
Baleària is the trading name for Baleària Eurolínias Marítimas S.A. The company operates ferry services from Spain to the Balearic Islands and Morocco.- Routes :Baleària operates services to the Balearic Islands from Dénia, Valencia and Barcelona...
. She continued services with Balearia
Baleària
Baleària is the trading name for Baleària Eurolínias Marítimas S.A. The company operates ferry services from Spain to the Balearic Islands and Morocco.- Routes :Baleària operates services to the Balearic Islands from Dénia, Valencia and Barcelona...
to Ibiza
Ibiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
and Menorca until her eventual sale to Ventouris Ferries
Ventouris Ferries
Ventouris Ferries is a Greek company that operates ferry services from Italy to Greece and Albania.-Routes:Ventouris Ferries operates two routes across the Adriatic Sea.*Bari - Durres*Bari - Corfu - Igoumenitsa-Fleet:...
of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 2010, briefly being renamed Winner 9 and then to the Bari .