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''Stena Baltica'' is a freight ferry operated by Stena Line between Karlskrona and Gdynia. The vessel was built by Aker Finnyards in Finland as the ''Cotentin'' for Brittany Ferries. She was named after the Cotentin Peninsula of France of which Cherbourg is its largest town. ''Cotentin'' was also the name of one of the original Truckline vessels to sail between Poole and Cherbourg. Sea trials commenced on 26 September 2007 after which she returned to the shipyard for completion. She was delivered to Brittany Ferries on 9 November 2007 and undertook berthing trials in Portsmouth and Poole on 14 November 2007 prior to sailing to her homeport of Cherbourg arriving the next day. Her first commercial sailing was the 23:45 Cherbourg–Poole service on 26 November 2007. ''Cotentin'' replaces MV ''Coutances'' on weekday Poole–Cherbourg sailings. ''Cotentin'' sails under the French flag and is registered in Cherbourg. In terms of capacity she is the largest ship ever to have operated out of Poole and also the largest ship by capacity in the Brittany Ferries fleet, carrying two more freight vehicles than the physically larger ''Mont St Michel''.〔(Brittany Ferries - Freight Capacity Summary )〕 The ships gross tonnage is given as 19,909〔(Brittany Ferries - Cotentin - Freight ferry to France )〕 or 22542〔 depending on the source. ==Regular routes== *Poole–Cherbourg *Poole–Santander ''Weekend service'' *Karlskrona-Gdynia When the order for the ''Cotentin'' in 2005 was announced it was not made clear which route the vessel would be placed on. The French press released stated that she would be for the Portsmouth–Cherbourg and run to Santander at the weekends route while the English press release simply stated that she would be used in the Cherbourg route and to Spain at the weekend. An October 2006 article in ''International Freighting Weekly'' included comments from a Brittany Ferries executive which suggested that the ship would be placed on the Poole–Cherbourg route and that the timetable currently operated by the ''Coutances'' would be amended to give more "social" departure times, specifically changing the 02:00 summer time departure from Cherbourg.〔(International Freighting Weekly )〕 Up to mid-July 2007 the Brittany Ferries Freight timetable showed a two-ship service on Poole–Cherbourg after the delivery of the ''Cotentin'', and no Portsmouth–Cherbourg sailings, indicating the company's intention to place the ship on the Poole–Cherbourg route alongside the ''Barfleur''. Newspaper articles covering the launch of the vessel stated that the vessel would primarily be used on the Poole route. Despite the initial announcement that the ship would run to Santander at the weekend a decision had not been made at the time as to whether this will be the ships Spanish destination due to port fees. Other ports that were in the running to receive the ''Cotentin'' were Bilbao and Gijon. On 21 July 2007 it was announced by Brittany Ferries that the ''Cotentin'' would operate from Poole,〔(Bournemouth Daily Echo – New Ferry to Run on Poole Route )〕 a partially amended timetable for the Poole–Cherbourg route had been posted prior to the announcement though ''Cotentin'' sailings were absent until the delivery date was confirmed. The amendments allowed for the ''Cotentin's'' Poole–Santander weekend sailings. The 2008 timetable announced on 12 September 2007 showed the ''Cotentin'' entering service in mid-November 2007 on the Poole–Cherbourg route with services to Santander commencing shortly after. Initially the 2008 timetable showed that after Christmas the ''Cotentin'' would move to the Caen route to provide refit cover for the ''Mont St Michel'' before returning to Poole. Her place on the Cherbourg and Santander route was to have been taken by the ''Bretagne'', however shortly after its release the timetable was edited and the ''Cotentin'' will remain on the Cherbourg and Santander routes throughout January. From mid-May 2008 the ''Cotentin'' will commence the new summer timetable with sailings on the Cherbourg route carried out in 3 hours 45 minutes as opposed to the previous 4 hours 30 mins on the ''Coutances''. The crossing time was extended after a short time operating the new timetable as a fuel saving measure. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MS Stena Baltica (2007)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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