STENA Line Senior Master Matthew Lynch has described his appointment as Captain of the company’s newest ferry Stena Estrid as the highlight of his sailing career to date.
An experienced seaman of 24 years, his role carries a lot of responsibility in terms of leading the team and ensuring Stena Line standards are met, but Matt is looking forward to taking over the reins on board Stena Estrid.
“Basically, I’m the man in command,” explains 40 year old Matt, “with responsibility for implementing Stena Line’s policies and ensuring that service standards are put in place and maintained, whilst providing the crew with all the support and assistance they need while away from home. The best bit though is that I get to drive the ship.”
So what does Captain Matt make of the new vessel so far? “All I can say is: Wow! Anyone who knows me knows that my expectations are always very high and Stena Estrid has far exceeded them. I’ve worked on passenger vessels for 24 years – seven on cruise ships and 17 on ferries – and this ship really is revolution not evolution.
“On first boarding the ship, I was struck by the quality of the build and finish. Everywhere you go on board, spaces are bright and airy with large picture windows and the skylight bringing in lots of natural light. Even the car decks are bright from the LED lighting.
“She’s very smooth and quiet at sea, so much so that I was standing on the bridge before we departed China and I had to double-check the engineering team had actually started the engines.
“Estrid is a very capable and comfortable ship at sea, performing well in all the conditions she has faced so far. I cannot wait to see how the ship is received by our guests. I believe they are going to be blown away by it!”
