MS Stena Nautica is a ro-pax ferry currently in operation between Halmstad and Grenå for Stena Line. She was completed in 1986 as MS Niels Klim and served on the DSB Århus – Kalundborg along with her sister MS Peder Paars until 1991.
Concept and construction
In September 1983 DSB ordered two relatively large ferries for service on the intra-Denmark Århus–Kalundborg route from in Nakskov, Denmark. Although ordered by the ferry division of the Danish State Railways, the ships did not have the facilities for transporting trains, but were constructed to transport road freight and passengers. Both ships were named after characters from the works of Ludvig Holberg, a Norwegian-born writer considered to be the father of modern Danish literature. First of the ships, delivered in 1985, was named MS Peder Paars after the poem Peder Paars. The second, delivered a year later, was named MS Niels Klim after the protagonist in Niels Klim's Underground Travels.
Early career
That year both ships were taken over by Stena Line.