Company type | A/S (Aktieselskab) |
---|---|
Founded | 1983 |
Headquarters | Tórshavn, Faroe Islands |
Area served | North Sea North Atlantic Norwegian Sea |
Services | Passenger transportation Freight transportation |
DKK 5.513 million (2009) [1] | |
DKK 407,000 (2009) [2] | |
Total assets | DKK 483,000 (2009) [3] |
Total equity | DKK 122 million (2011) [4] |
Smyril Line is a Faroese shipping company, linking the Faroe Islands with Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands and Lithuania. It previously also served Norway and the United Kingdom. Smyril is the Faroese word for the merlin.
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Shetland Development Trust doesn't exist anymore.(March 2020) |
Since 1983, the company has operated a regular international passenger, car and freight service using a multi-purpose ferry, MS Norröna. The original vessel was a Swedish-built ferry formerly named Gustav Vasa (built in 1973). This was replaced by the Norröna, built in Lübeck, Germany in 2003. The purchase price of €100 million caused the company financial difficulties, and Smyril line eventually had to receive public support from the Faroese Government to stay afloat.
In 2010 the holding company was owned by Framtaksgrunnur Føroya (Faroese Development Trust) 33.6%, the Faroese Government 23.6%, TF Holding 20.7% and the Shetland Development Trust 6.8%, and the rest of the shares were owned by several minor stakeholders. [5]
The weekly service serves Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands, Seyðisfjörður in Iceland, and Hirtshals in Denmark. As of 2022, there is no sailing to Iceland during winter time, between mid-November and mid-March. The crossing between Hirtshals and Tórshavn takes 38 hours in winter and 30 hours during the summer schedule. The onwards journey to Seyðisfjörður takes another 15 hours. [6]
Until the end of the summer 2007 timetable, Smyril Line also served Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. On 11 November 2008 Smyril Line announced that it would end services to Scrabster, Scotland and Bergen, Norway. [7] On 1 September Smyril Line announced that it would end services to Hanstholm (summer) and Esbjerg (winter) in Denmark and move all its Danish ferry operations to Hirtshals.
Smyril Line Cargo operates a fleet of five RoRo vessels: Eystnes, Hvítanes, Akranes,Mykines and Glyvursnes. [8] Cargo is also shipped on the Norröna. Eystnes and Hvítanes connect Seyðisfjörður in Iceland with Klaipeda in Lithuania and from there through Hirsthals and Tórshavn, [9] with Akranes connecting Rotterdam with Tórshavn and Þórlakshöfn ports. [10]
The MV Mykines was added to the fleet in April 2017. Built at the Norwegian UMOE Sterkoder shipyard in 1996, it was previously operated as Auto Baltic for Bore shipping company in Finland. It measures 138.5 metres in length and 22.6 metres in width. As a RoRo ship it also takes unaccompanied cars as freight, providing an alternative to the Norröna. It sails from Rotterdam via Tórshavn (stopping there northbound only) to Þorlákshöfn in Iceland. [11]
The Glyvursnes is the newest vessel, added in December 2023, taking over from the chartered Mistral. The vessel was bought from the Finnish company Bore Ltd. , and was renamed from M/S Seagard to Glyvursnes. The vessel is 153.5 metres long and 20.6 metres wide, and it was built by the German shipyard J.J. Sietas in 1999. It sails between Tórshavn, Þórlakshöfn, and Hirtshals. [12]
In 2024 February, Smyril Line signed a contract with the Chinese shipyard CIMC Raffles for two new cargo vessels. The delivery date is set for 2026, and both vessels will be 190 meters long and 3300 lane meters wide. The vessels are designed by Knud E. Hansen. The vessels will be equipped with a battery system, connection to shore power, and will be able to run on methanol. [13]
The Faroe Islands is served by an internal transport system based on roads, ferries, and helicopters. As of the 1970s, the majority of the population centres of the Faroe Islands have been joined to a single road network, connected by bridges and tunnels.
Tórshavn, usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the 347-meter-high (1,138 ft) mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the 350-meter-high (1,150 ft) Kirkjubøreyn. They are separated by the Sandá River. The city itself has a population of 14,099 (2024), and the greater urban area has a population of 23,194, including the suburbs of Hoyvík and Argir.
Hirtshals is a town and seaport on the coast of Skagerrak on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark, Europe. It is located in Hjørring municipality in Region Nordjylland. The town of Hirtshals has a population of 5,538. Located on the Skagerrak, it is especially known for its fishing and ferry harbours.
Vágar Airport is the only airport in the Faroe Islands, and is located 1 NM east of the village of Sørvágur, on the island of Vágar and 46 km west of the capital Tórshavn. Due to the Faroe Islands' status as a self-governing territory, the airport is not subject to the rules of the European Union. It is the main operating base for Faroese national airline Atlantic Airways and, for a brief period during 2006, was also the base for the low-cost airline FaroeJet.
Hanstholm is a small town and a former island, now elevated area in Thisted municipality of Region Nordjylland, located in northern Denmark. The population of the town is 2,088.
Streymoy is the largest and most populated island of the Faroe Islands. The capital, Tórshavn, is located on its southeast coast. The name means "island of currents". It also refers to the largest region of the country that also includes the islands of Hestur, Koltur and Nólsoy.
Atlantic Airways is the national airline of the Faroe Islands, operating domestic helicopter services and international passenger services as well as search and rescue responsibilities from its base at Vágar Airport, on the Faroese island of Vágar. Most of its pilots are members of the Faroese Pilot Association. Its 2021 revenue was 410.2mm DKK.
Seyðisfjörður is a town in the Eastern Region of Iceland at the innermost point of the fjord of the same name. The town is located in the municipality of Múlaþing.
Þorlákshöfn is a town on the southern coast of Iceland in the Municipality of Ölfus.
MS Regina Baltica is a cruiseferry owned by the Spanish shipping company Balearia. She was built in 1980 as Viking Song by Wärtsilä Perno shipyard, Finland for Rederi Ab Sally, one of the owners of the Viking Line consortium. She has also sailed under the names Braemar and Anna Karenina.
Mykines village is the only settlement on Mykines Island, the westernmost of the Faroe Islands. It is a little coastal village with bright houses with turf roofs, with an old turf-roofed stone Church dating from 1878, and a small stream flowing through the village.
The Smyril is a passenger and car ferry owned and operated by the Faroese transport company Strandfaraskip Landsins. She is the largest ferry in the fleet and the fifth vessel to carry the name Smyril, which is the Faroese word for merlin. The ferry takes 200 cars and 975 passengers.
Strandfaraskip Landsins is the government agency for public transport in the Faroe Islands. It is owned by the Faroese national government under the Ministry of Finance (Fíggjamálaráðið) and runs seven ferry routes and a number of bus routes.
MV Logos Hope is a ship operated as a part of a faith based organisations by Gute Bücher für Alle. She was built in 1973 as the ferry MV Gustav Vasa for service between Malmö (Sweden) and Travemünde (Germany) and later operated as the MV Norröna providing a ferry service to the Faroe Islands.
Norröna is the Faroes' largest ferry. It sails between Hirtshals, Denmark to Tórshavn, the Faroe Islands and Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.
Hotel Føroyar is a four-star hotel above the Faroese capital of Tórshavn. Next to the Hotel Hafnia, it is the only four-star hotel in the country as well as its largest hotel with 216 beds.
Nesskip hf. is an Icelandic shipping company that runs affreightment services based in Reykjavík. The company was established on 27 January 1974 in Seltjarnernes and was founded by a group of shipping and bulk transport enthusiasts, led by Captain Gudmundur Asgeirsson, who was the first managing director of the company. It is one of Iceland's largest bulk transporting firms. According to Bloomberg it "provides a range of shipping-related services as ship owners, ship brokers, port agents, and transport and chartering consultants", and serves "cruise liners, seismic-research vessels, reefers, tankers, and dry cargo vessels and foreign deep sea fishing ships" as a port agent. The company Nesskip is valued at approximately 240 Million Norwegian Krones (KON); approximately US$23 million. Nesskip purchased its first bulk carrier in February 1974, named the Suðurland and specialises in bulk transport of goods which has been at the fore front of the company's operations for over 40 years. The company deals with the transportation of fishmeal, steel products, construction materials, cement, timber, pumice, coal, gravel, ferrosilicon, and salt as well as other FOSFA cargo. In 1977, Nesskip began to develop a close working relationship with the company Wilson ASA, who specialise in the management of shipping services. It is a member of the international shipping organisation Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO). In 2006, Norwegian shipping company Wilson EuroCarriers acquired a majority share (51.6%) in Nesskip resulting in a change of ownership.
The Suðuroyartunnilin is a proposed submerged fixed-link in the Faroe Islands, linking the island of Suðuroy to Sandoy. As of 2023, all vehicles and cargo, and virtually all passenger traffic must use the ferry service.
Tangafjørður is the southern part of the strait separating the islands of Streymoy and Eysturoy in the Faroe Islands. The northern part of the strait between is named Sundini.
Route 93 or Seyðisfjarðarvegur is a national road in the Eastern Region of Iceland. It connects the town of Seyðisfjörður at the coast with the town of Egilsstaðir at the Route 1.