A Dutch Queen on the Irish Sea

Fishguard's Koningin Beatrix entered Irish Sea service on 27 June 1997. In severe gales the outgoing Stena Felicity had diverted from Fishguard to Pembroke Dock with 1171 passengers when it became obvious she could not berth at her home port, while the newcomer could not use Fishguard until ramp modifications had been completed. It was not until 3 July that the changeover took place, the Koningin Beatrix’s maiden sailing from Fishguard departing for Rosslare five hours late. At the time she was the largest ferry to ever operate on St George’s Channel. 

Although a very well appointed ship the Koningin Beatrix did not enjoy the same level of success as her predecessor. She soon earned a reputation for being rather difficult to handle and indeed on 3 August 1997 she demolished a section of the harbour wall at Rosslare while attempting to berth in an ENE Force 9. Having waited off the port all night for an improvement in the weather the ship proceeded to Dublin where she disembarked her 1200 passengers 20 hours after they left Fishguard. Before she was replaced by the Stena Europe on 13 March 2002 the “KB” saw more trips to Dublin in adverse weather conditions and at one stage even put in an appearance on the Holyhead run. Another unusual diversion was on 13 July 1998 when she put in a passage from Cork to Roscoff on charter to transfer people and equipment connected with the Irish leg of the Tour de France race.

The ship was replaced at Fishguard in 2001 by the Stena Europe.