Whitney Houston Joins Thousands On Stena Line Who Just Wanna Sail With Somebody

Released on: May 05, 2010, 2:31 am
Author: Stena Line
Industry: Travel

Stena Line didn't need to provide a bodyguard for Whitney Houston as she set sail onboard the 11:45 HSS Stena Voyager from Belfast to Stranraer following her three concerts in Dublin, and tried to avoid the chaos caused by Iceland's volcanic ash cloud.

In the comfort of the Stena Plus lounge, Whitney was just one of a staggering 45,000 additional passengers that have sailed with the leading ferry company over the last week, as Iceland's volcanic ash cloud wreaked havoc with travellers' flight plans. The eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland sent vast amounts of ash into the atmosphere, halting flights and leaving thousands of Britons stranded across the world.

In total, Stena Line carried more than 89,000 passengers and 16,200 cars on its 34 daily sailings across five routes from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead, Dublin Port to Holyhead, Rosslare to Fishguard, Stranraer to Belfast and Larne to Fleetwood.

Stena Line Communications Manager Nigel Tilson said: "We've certainly had a busy week and estimate that we have carried twice the amount of passengers that we would normally expect at this time of year.

"Whitney was the most famous but not the only celebrity to travel with us at this time as we also carried rising golf star Rory McIlroy the Ulster Rugby and Ospreys Rugby teams and millionaire businessman and racehorse owner JP McManus.

"It has been a terrible time for those who have faced disruption but we have done everything we can to accommodate people wishing to travel. In the past week, we have brought in extra staff, increased our capacity by working closely with transport partners and installing extra server space on our website."

Notes to Editors:

About Stena Line:
Stena Line is the market leader on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest fleet and widest choice of routes between Britain and Ireland, including Stranraer to Belfast, Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and Dublin Port, Fishguard to Rosslare and Fleetwood to Larne. The company carries almost three million passengers on its Irish Sea routes each year, more than its rival ferry operators combined.

Stena Line has a modern fleet with a total of 34 vessels including fast ferries (Stena HSS), traditional combi-ferries, RoPax ferries for freight and passengers, and pure cargo ships.

During 2008, approximately 15 million passengers travelled with Stena Line. 3 million cars and 1.8 million freight units were transported during the same period.

For further information, please contact:
Fiona Brown
Duffy Rafferty Communications
18 Heron Road
Belfast
BT3 9LE
028 9073 0880
www.stenaline.co.uk