MV Color Viking

ex Stena Invicta, Peder Paars

Peder Paars – Roy Thornton Collection (Trials)(Danish State Railways)

Steel motor vessel, built by Nakskov Skibsværft 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

Technical Data

• 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, LLTF
• IMO Number: 8317942
• MMSI Number: 259278000
• Registry: Aarhus/Denmark 🇩🇰, Dover/United Kingdom 🇬🇧, Nassau/Bahamas 🇧🇸, Sandefjord/Norway 🇳🇴
• Sister ship: Niels Klim (233)

Current AIS Location

History

November 21st 1984: Launched

October 1st 1985: Completed.

Peder Paars – Roy Thornton Collection (Trials) (Danish State Railways)

October 18th 1985: Delivered to DSB (Danish State Railways Ferry Division) Århus, Denmark.

November 19th 1985: Commenced service between Århus – Kalundborg.

Peder Paars – © Pieter Inpyn (Århus, 01/06/1987)

October 1990: Sold to Stena Line Ab, Gothenburg.

Peder Paars – © Andreas Wörteler (Århus, March 1990)(Left) and Nigel Thornton Collection (Right)

Peder Paars – Nigel Thornton Collection

May 19th 1991: Final day in service Århus – Kalundborg.

Peder Paars – Nigel Thornton Collection (all)

May 20th 1991: Renamed STENA INVICTA.

May 1991: Arrived at Schichau-Seebeck Werft, 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.

Stena Invicta – © Frank Heine (Bremerhaven, 02/06/1991)

1991: Stena full takeover of Sealink U.K. Ltd for a sum believed to be in the region of £259 million.

May 1991: Chartered to Sealink Stena Line, Dover, England, transferred to British ships register.

July 4th 1991: Arrived at Dover for the first time.

Stena Invicta – © Mike Jackson

Stena Invicta – © Ken Larwood (Dover, 05/07/1991)

Stena Invicta – © Gary Davies (Maritime Photographic) (Left) and © Andreas Wörteler (Calais, August 1991)(Right)

Stena Invicta – © Ken Larwood

Stena Invicta – ©  A G Jones (Dover, 15/08/1992)(All)

Stena Invicta – © Tony Garner (Dover, 15/08/1992)

1992:  The fleets livery was changed to Stena Sealink Line.

Stena Invicta – © Andreas Wörteler (Calais, 20/06/1993)(Left) and © Stéphane Poulain (Right)

Stena Invicta – Nigel Thornton Collection

Stena Invicta  – Nigel Thornton Collection

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.

Stena Invicta – © Andreas Wörteler

Stena Invicta – © Stéphane Poulain (Left) and © Ken Larwood (Right)

Stena Invicta – Nigel Thornton Collection

Stena Invicta – © Pieter Inpyn (Calais, 01/05/1997)

February 18th 1998: Withdrawn from the Dover-Calais route and sent to Bremerhaven.

Stena Invicta – © Christian Eckardt (Bremerhaven)

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.

Wasa Jubilee – © Dirk Jankowsky

September 15th 1998: Left Vasa for Zeebrugge.

October 19th 1998: Moored in Zeebrugge, and laid up.

Wasa Jubilee – © Andreas Wörteler (Zeebrugge, May 1999)

November 1999: Registered to P&O Stena Line Ltd, Dover, England but never saw service with P&O Stena Line between Dover and Calais.

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.

Color Viking – © Dirk Jankowsky

May 8th 2002: Sold to MV Color Line A/S Oslo, Norway for 145 million Norwegian Kroner.

May 28th 2002: Registered in the Norwegian ships register with home port of Sandefjord.

January 13th 2011: Whilst underway from Strömstad to Sandefjord, a fire broke out in the engine room resulting in a loss of power. The vessel anchored in the fjord so the fire could be extinguished, after a few hours power was restored and one engine was successfully restarted and the vessel got underway for Sandefjord.

January 23rd 2011: Back in service following repairs.

2012: Still in service with Color Line.

Color Viking – © Morten Bø (all)

August 2014: Remains in service between Strömstad – Sandefjord for Color Line A/S.

Color Viking – © Frank Heine (Strömstad, 15/08/2016)

July 2019: Still in service with Color Line operating between Strömstad and Sandefjord.

March 15th 2020: Services suspended owing to Covid-19 pandemic and laid up in Sandefjord.

October 22^nd 2021: Trial run between Sandefjord – Strömstad

October 28^th 2021: “After 600 days” resumed service Sandefjord – Strömstad

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All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for errors and omissions. All items included in this article are subject to ©. We would like to thank: Micke Asklander (Faktaomfartyg), Gary Davies (Maritime Photographic), Christian Eckardt, Tony Garner, Frank Heine, Pieter Inpyn, Dirk Jankowsky, A G Jones, Ken Larwood, Mike Jackson, Stéphane Poulain, Morten Bø and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.

Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)