Pippi Longstocking and the dramatic history of Stena Danica

Pippi Longstocking and the dramatic history of Stena Danica

In the summer of 1969, the "Stena Danica", a ferry by Stena Line, was baptized by the well -known actress Inger Nilsson, who was famous as Pippi Longstocking. The baptism of ship took place on June 30, 1969 and marked the beginning of a moving story for the vehicle, which was originally supposed to run on the route between Gothenburg and Frederikshavn. The ship was on February 16, 1969 under Baunummer 934 in the Bremerhaven plant A.G. Wesser Seebeck left off the stack and was designed with a length of 125 meters to transport 250 cars and up to 1,500 passengers. The official delivery took place on June 28, 1969.

stena line published historical photos of the baptism of ship on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Astrid Lindgren's first Pippi novel. Despite the great expectations, the "Stena Danica" remained the only ship in the history of Stena Line without a identical sister ship, since the hopes for a follow -up order were not fulfilled.

the sale and the renaming

After almost five years on duty, the “Stena Danica” was sold to BC Ferries in 1974 and renamed “Queen of Surrey”. The ferry continued its journey on the route between Horseshoe Bay (Vancouver) and Nanano. From 1975 to 1980 the ship was out of operation due to a renovation project, but was then equipped with 208 sleeping places and used as the "Queen of the North" on the route from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy. This renaming and reorientation should offer the ferry a new chance in the highly competitive ferry service on the Canadian west coast.

The fate of the ferry

On March 21, 2006, a tragedy occurred: The "Queen of the North" ran on board with 101 people on board. The ship dropped within just four hours. Fortunately, 99 people were saved, but two passengers were killed, the corpses of which have not been found to this day. These events put a dramatic conclusion under the eventful history of the "Stena Danica" and her successor names.

The "Stena Danica" remains alive as a remarkable chapter in maritime history, both through her cultural connection to the figure Pippi Longstocking and the challenges that she had to master during her service. nord24 and Simplon report in detail about the eventful history of this ferry.