End of an era | Stena Line Grenaa to Halmstad aboard Stena Nautica

30th April 2026 marked the end of an era of the Stena Line Grenaa (Denmark) to Halmstad (Sweden) route. The veteran Stena Nautica duly made her last ever voyage with the company prior to being laid up awaiting her fate, ironically 40yrs to the month since she entered service as Niels Klim for Danish State Railways. Having had a seemingly nomadic career in her earlier years, for the past 29yrs she settled in to being the sole vessel on the route, having initially operated between Grenaa and Varberg. In 2001 Stena Nautica underwent a mamouth overhaul effectively bulldozing the passenger amenities on Deck 6 to create a full height freight deck; passenger numbers were subsequently reduced and centred on Deck 7 which had a café with forward facing views, Stena Plus Lounge, cinema, bar, gaming arcade, shop, pet friendly lounge, commercial drivers lounge, Taste Restaurant and children's playroom. Passenger numbers dwindled over the following years with both Grenaa and Halmstad being exceptionally difficult ports for foot passengers and 'out in the sticks' for accessing by public transport. Edited together using downloaded live Facebook reels I made at the time (Facebook A2B via Sea) this video is unusual but bare with me....I wanted to make a vlog of some sorts to act as a legacy for future generations so they could virtually come aboard. Plus, as foot passengers were no longer permitted in the final few months of the route operations, there was no possibility of getting back aboard to make a better video. Stena Nautica maybe better known as the former Niels Klim, Isle of Innisfree, Lion King and Lion King II plus sister too Seajets Superstar II which is formerly Peder Paars, Stena Incicta and Color Viking and has been taken much better care of! Blogs of both sisters at www.a2bviasea.co.uk Filmed by Instagram: thebearded_blogger for Facebook page A2B via Sea. My thanks to Google Earth for the animations.