Roy Thornton Collection Steel motor vessel, built by Nakskov Skibsvaerft A/S, Denmark (233) for DSB (Danish State Railways) in 1985 (Yard No 233) as a passenger and roll-on roll-off car and commercial vehicle ferry. Launched November 21st 1984.
 Technical Data
Registry - Arhus, Denmark (1984), Dover, United Kingdom (1991), Nassau, Bahamas (2000), Sandefjord, Norway (2002) IMO Number - 8317942 Length - 134.02 metres (overall)(1985), 137m (Registered)(1991) Breadth of hull - 24.6 metres (1985), 24.62 (1991) Draught - 5.65m (maximum) Tonnage - 11,602 gross (1985), 19,763 (1991) 6,180 net (1985), 9,130 (1991) 2,813 deadweight (1985), 2,390 (1991) Engines - Two B & W 8L45GB diesels Power - 12,480 kW Speed - 17,1 knots (19,4 knots maximum) Capacity - 2,000 passengers, 430 cars, 36 lorries (Freight)(1985) 1,720 passengers, 350 cars (1991) Call Sign - MNJJ6 (1991), LLTF (2002)
History November 21st 1984: Launched October 1st 1985: Completed. October 18th 1985: Delivered to DSB (Danish State Railways Ferry Division) Århus, Danmark. November 19th 1985: Commenced service between Århus - Kalundborg. October 1990: Sold to Stena Line Ab, Göteborg. May 19th 1991: Final day in service Århus - Kalundborg.
© Andreas Wörteler
May 20th 1991: Renamed STENA INVICTA. May 1991: Arrived at Schichau-Seebeckswerft, Bremerhaven, Germany for re-building. The work included the fitting of bow and stern fenders for the berths at Dover and Calais. Extensive alterations were made to her passenger accommodation but no conversion to twin level loading. May 1991: Chartered to Sealink Stena Line, Dover, England, transferred to British ships register.
 
© Gary Davies Maritime Photographic (left) and © Andreas Wörteler (right)
July 4th 1991: Arrived at Dover for the first time. July 7th 1991: Commenced service between Dover - Calais. 1991: Stena full takeover of Sealink U.K. Ltd for a sum believed to be in the region of £259 million. The fleets livery was changed to reflect the fact, first to Sealink Stena Line, then Stena Sealink Line.
  
© Andreas Wörteler (left), © Fotoflite, Nigel Thornton Collection (middle) and Stéphane Poulain (right)
December 31st, 1995 (midnight): Stena Sealink Line ceased as a company name and all ships in the fleet adopted the trading name of Stena Line. The fleet was painted in the Scandinavian livery.
  
© Andreas Wörteler (left and middle) and Stéphane Poulain (right)
February 18th 1998: Withdrawn from route (Dover - Calais) and sent to Bremerhaven.
© Christian Eckardt
April 1998: Chartered to Silja Line on the Vaasa - Umea service April 20th 1998 - September 15th 1998: Commenced service between Umeå - Vasa under the trade name of WASA JUBILEE.
© Dirk Jankowsky
September 15th 1998 09: Left Vasa for Zeebrugge. October 19th 1998: Moored in Zeebrugge, and laid up.
© Andreas Wörteler
November 1999: Registered to P&O Stena Line Ltd, Dover, England but never saw service with POSL. December 1999: Commenced service between Holyhead - Dublin. February 28th 2000 - March 20th 2000: Operated between Fishguard - Rosslare. April 2000: Chartered to Color Line A/S, Oslo, Norway. April 2000: Arrived at Drammen, Norway for re-building. May 2000: Renamed COLOR VIKING. Transferred to the Bahamas ships register with Nassau as home port. June 14th 2000: Commenced service between Strömstad - Sandefjord. Operated by Color Line Marine A/S.
 
© Dirk Jankowsky
May 8th 2002: Sold to MV Color Line A/S Oslo, Norway for 145 million Norwegian Kronas. May 28th 2002: Registered in the Norwegian ships register with home port of Sandefjord. 2007: Still in service with Color Line.
Onboard the Color Viking     
    
         
    
       
A special thank you to © Matt Murtland of HHVFerry for providing the above images.
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