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This article was first published in the Autumn/Winter 2017 issue of Cruise & Ferry Interiors. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed.
“Our interior design is modern, Scandinavian style with influences of an international and urban approach. It is simple and long lasting, timeless, blond and light with clean lines,” says Per Ola Jonnerheim, managing director of Stena Line Onboard Services. The concept is outlined in the StenaLine Design Guide produced by the company, he adds.
But, looking to the future, it is not surprising that a ferry company as large and diverse as Stena Line still has a long way to go to achieve any measure of standardisation and move to a one-company experience for passengers, says senior executive, Carl Martensson, who has a particular interest in ship interiors.
“As our 36 vessels are not the same, there are significant differences in the design and offer we make to passengers onboard our ships,” he explains. “This is because we tailor our ferries to our customers’ needs on a specific route or region. This is particularly true within the areas of onboard service, food and communication.”
To the outsider, the aim of a one-company interior experience will not be easy to achieve given Stena’s wide range of operations – Baltic, North Sea, Irish Sea, The Channel – and the wide range of passenger demands this engenders.
It is the communication point that is significant for the future. “We are on a journey to become a more digitised and sustainable company and this will become increasingly important in designing our vessels and their interiors,” says the Swedish executive. “In addition to an obviously eye-catching design, the company will also be seeking to build in durability, which is very important.”
This digitised process will be the stand-out feature of the interiors of future ships. “We want this to be visible for all our customers, both passengers and those related to the freight business,” he says. “This includes pre-travel (pricing, booking, cargo handling), as well as onboard and after the journey. There is no doubt this will have a major impact on interior design.”
The executive also admitted that, to some extent, this desire for a digital experience for customers in new vessels may become a test bed for digital entertainment systems as well as theme-based travel relating to a specific route, vessel or destination. Stena does hire outside consultants for interior designs, but is known to favour a strong in-house team, especially when it comes to the sort of digital transformation now being contemplated as well as energy-saving projects.
An important look into the future of interior design at the company may come soon from the initial four large ro-pax ships set to be built in China – a first for Stena. But they are not due to be started until this autumn for delivery in 2019/20, so while there are obviously outline plans for the interiors, nobody is prepared to talk about something which may vary significantly in the coming months. Interior design has been a major part of an intensive study to design the China ships, which are 50% larger than normal and can take 1,000 passengers.