The "Peder Paars" was delivered to DSB Færger on 1985-10-18, but it was not until a month later that she entered service on the Århus—Kalundborg route. Århus was also her port of registry at the time. She and her sister remained in service for five years, until in October 1990 both ships were sold to Stena Line, to be delivered in May 1991. On 1991-05-19 both the "Peder Paars" and "Niels Klim" were withdrawn from service, replaced by the notably smaller second-hand ferries and . The following day the "Peder Paars" was renamed "Stena Invicta" and sailed to the Schichau-Seebeckswerft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany for rebuilding for service in the English Channel for Stena Line's subsidiary Sealink Stena Line. For this purpose the ship was re-registered in the United Kingdom, with Dover as her homeport. On 1991-08-08 the "Stena Invicta" entered service on the Dover—Calais route.