On Friday January 31, 2020 Stena Line closed the Varberg-Grenaa route. The day after, on Saturday, February 1st Stena Line’s new ferry route between Halmstad in Sweden and Grenaa in Denmark was officially opened.
The inauguration started early Saturday morning in Grenaa with almost a thousand visitors attending. The Transport minister of Denmark Benny Engelbrecht attended the ceremony in Grenaa and joined the sea journey to Halmstad where 8,000 people waited for Stena Nautica on the quay when she arrived at 1 pm.
There was an open day for the ferry during where thousands of people visited the ship, to enjoy the entertainment and performances that were held on board. The official inauguration ceremony was conducted by Dan Sten Olsson, the owner and CEO of Stena AB, the infrastructure minister of Sweden Tomas Eneroth, the governor of Halland Lena Sommestad and Transport minister of Denmark Benny Engelbrecht.
The new route will be operated by the 135-meter-long RoPax ferry Stena Nautica built in 1986 with a capacity of 900 passengers and 1265 lane meters. The crossing time is 4 h 35 minutes and Stena Nautica will make up to two departures per day.