It all started in 1939. Sten A Olsson, the son of a shipper and sailing ship owner from Donsö in Gothenburg's southern archipelago, created the metal trading company Sten A Olssons Metallprodukter. This was the foundation of today's Stena Group and the recycling company Stena Metall.
In 1946, Sten A Olsson bought his first ferry and started out in the shipping business on a small scale.
In the early 1960s ferry traffic began between Gothenburg in Sweden and Skagen in Denmark. Low Danish food prices and duty-free shopping onboard plus low ticket prices created a fantastic recipe for success. Gradually Skagen was replaced by Frederikshavn as the Danish destination.
In 1967 the Göteborg-Kiel route was opened, and Stena Line started to be a force to reckon with.
In 1979 the Oslo-Frederikshavn route opened. This was another important route for year-round traffic, and one which also became a great success.
In 1982, Stena Line merged with Sessan Line.
This is the story of the so-called Kattegatt War. Stena Line and Sessan Line were competitors for passengers in an over-supplied market, and the competition was so tough that there was a risk that one of the companies would go under. The problem was solved by merging the companies.
The merger led to the ferry operations becoming a single company with the name Stena Sessan Line. The initiative for this change came from Stena's new Group CEO, Dan Sten Olsson, the son of Stena's founder.
1989 - Stena Line established in Holland
In 1989, Stena Line acquired the Dutch company SMZ (Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland), which operated the Hoek van Holland - Harwich route, and the company became established in the North Sea.
1990 - Stena Line established in the UK
Stena Line acquired Sealink British Ferries as part of the company's strategy to establish routes near the major markets on the continent. The company also wanted to be less dependent on the duty-free based Scandinavian routes, as duty-free sales onboard were being questioned within the EU.
With the acquisition of the English shipping line, and a pair of Dutch companies, Stena Line doubled in size and became one of the world's biggest shipping companies.
1995 - Stena Line established in Poland
In 1995 the route between Karlskrona and Gdynia was operated through the subsidiary Lion Ferry, and after a couple of years this route was run with the Stena Line name.
1996 - Stena Line built the world's first high-speed ferry
Stena Line created sea history by developing the world's first high-speed ferry. Stena Explorer was the first in a series of so-called HSS 1500 ferries (High-speed Sea Service). HSS 1500 was an important link in Stena Line's preparations for changing travel patterns, alongside the winding down of duty-free sales.
1998 - Stena Line began operating on English Channel routes
Through a merger between P&O and Stena Line's ferry operations within the so-called Short Sea area between England and France/Belgium, Stena Line started passenger and freight traffic on the Dover-Calais route and freight traffic on the Dover-Zeebrügge route. The aim was to respond to competition from the Channel Tunnel. In 2002, Stena Line sold its share of P&O Stena Line to P&O.
1999 - Duty-free sales ceased, which meant major challenges for Stena Line.
2000 - Stena Line bought the Swedish part of Scandlines AB, which ran traffic on four popular routes between Sweden and Denmark, and between Sweden and Germany. In 2000 a further high demand freight route was opened between Hoek van Holland and Killingholme in England.
2005 - Environmental certification
Stena Line's Scandinavian operations were certified ISO 14001 in 2005. During 2010, Stena Line's operations on the Irish Sea were also environmentally certified.
2006 - New ferries
Stena Line invested 120 million euros in two new ferries on the Hoek van Holland-Killingholme route to increase capacity and improve the service for freight customers. Stena Trader came into service in 2006 and Stena Traveller in early 2007.
Stena Line also made public investments of 400 million euros in two new Superferries to go into service on the Hoek van Holland-Harwich route.
2008 - Stena Line bought the travel agent Sembo, which thereby became a subsidiary to Stena Line. Sembo offers package holidays with car hire and accommodation to over 200 destinations in Europe.
Stena Line's biggest ferry reorganisation in history started in 2010 with two brand-new Superferries going into service. The investment involved was the biggest so far in Stena Line's history, with a total of SEK 7 billion being invested in the two new ferries, and in the conversions of four other ferries together with adaptations to harbours.