Stena Superfast VII ferry accidents and incidents

19 July 2023Fire Accident

On July 19, 2023, at 10:52 am Ireland time (09:52 UTC), while docked at Victoria Terminal (West Bank Road Area in Belfast Harbour, Northern Ireland) the ferry suffered an engine room fire. There were no passengers onboard the ship and no injuries among the crew were reported.

Stena Line confirmed that a fire broke out in the emergency/backup generator room. At the time, the ship was without passengers. According to Stena's announcement, the fire was small and quickly extinguished by the ship's crew.

As a precaution, NIAS (Northern Ireland Ambulance Service) was alerted and it dispatched one Emergency Crew, two Paramedics, and the Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene.

The accident caused changes to the July 19’s crossings on the route Belfast-Cairnryan (Scotland). The 11.30 hrs crossing (from Belfast to Cairnryan) was canceled. The schedule for the remainder of the day was revised.

Booked passengers waited ~4 hours for the next crossing. They were provided with food vouchers by Stena Line.

06 November 2018Other Incidents

On November 6, 2018, the cruise ferry came into close proximity with (an unidentified) Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine. The near-miss occurred during the scheduled 150-min crossing between Belfast (Ireland) and Cairnryan (Scotland). The submarine was submerged at the time, with its periscope visible above the water.

The incident was made public in mid-January 2019 after British maritime authorities launched an investigation. STEN LINE's official statement included that "at no stage were the vessel, passengers or crew in any danger”.

12 November 2004Ship Grounding

On November 12, 2004, in the evening, while entering Port Hanko (Finland), in heavy wind and assisted by 2 tugboats, the ship ran aground near the harbor's breakwater. The accident resulted in minor hull damage.

On November 14, the vessel arrived in Naantali (Finland) for repairs. It returned to service on November 27.