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Items relating to m/f 'Smyril'



Since the 1890s the Strandfaraskip Landsins have operated five different ships named Smyril, which is the Faroese word for Merlin.


Smiril I
came into service for the J. Mortensen trding company of Tvøroyri in 1896.  She had a gross registered tonnage of 162 and was equipped with a 162hp steam engine. She operated a complex schedule, serving many villages in the Faroes.

Mail was also carried, and from 1896 Smiril served as a travelling post office and had its own 'central-star' canceller for items of mail, which continued to be used until mid-1903.

Smiril was taken over by the public authorities in 1917 and eventually sold to Iceland in 1932.


Smiril II
was built in Frederikshavn in Denmark in 1931, arriving in the Faroe Islands in 1932. It was much more modern than the first Smyril, it had a large saloon with sofas, and it even had a small saloon for smokers. The ferry was welcomed with song and music on the harbour of Tórshavn. The ship had a gross registered tonnage of 300 and was equipped with a 350hp steam engine.

Two days after arrival, the ferry started to sail on routes between the islands. She called only at the largest of the Islands' trading centres (Klaksvik, Miðvágur, Vestmanna, etc.) and thus had sufficient time to provide a regular service to Suðuroy, via Skálavik (Sandoy).

At the end of her career she was sold for scrap in Belgium.


Smyril III
was built in Tórshavn, at the shipyard Tórshavnar Skipasmiðja, in 1967. It was a modern fast-moving and seaworthy vessel operated by the Strandfaraskip Landsins public shipping company. The change in spelling, from 'Smiril' to 'Smyril' came about as a result of the spelling reforms introduced in the Faroes a little earlier. With the new Smyril having a gross registered tonnage of 500 and a 1,400hp MAK diesel engine the sailing time between Torshavn and Tvøroyri was reduced from four to three hours. Smyril III could accommodate 300 passengers.

However, with the changes that were being made to the infrastructure within the Faroes in the 1960s and 1970s, the need for a larger vessel, a real car-ferry, to cover the community’s requirements grew.

In 1975 Smyril III was renamed Dúgvan and eventually sold to a shipping company in Guinea, West Africa in 1981 where she was renamed Overbeck. She was finally laid up in 1994.

The passenger boat Smyril (III) in the harbour of Tvøroyri

Datestamp 24.12.76




Smyril IV
was built in 1969 as MV Morten Mols for the Danish shipping company Mols-Linien and bought by Strandfaraskip Landsins in 1975. She had a gross registered tonnage of 3,937 and four 2,770hp diesel engines. It began to show signs of wear against the strong Faroese elements in the mid 1990s and by 2003 it was facing extreme difficulties in sailing through the strong currents of the islands. It was eventually replaced and taken out of operation in October 2005.

M/F Smyril (IV)
The Faroese ferry connecting the Faroes, Iceland, Norway and Scotland.
Car capacity: more than 100 cars.

Paquebot postcard posted on board Smyril en route to the Faroe Islands and postmarked on arrival at Tórshavn on 7.9.1977.

Ship marks (purple):

SMYRIL
 
and

TO
FAROES



MV Smyril (IV) at Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
On the Tórshavn-Tvøroyri route, carrying mails to the island of Suðuroy. Smyril, the fourth ship by that name, entered service in the Faroes in 1975.

Datestamp 31.10.2005

Photographed in 2002.

Postcard No. 8
Published by the Faroe Islands Study Circle.

Signed by the ships master.


Fra Island
TÓRSHAVN

Datestamp 16.6.75

Cachet:
First Trip
"MV. SMYRIL"
Seyðisfjörður
Tórshavn

Paquebot
BERGEN

Datestamp 27.6.75

M/S SMYRIL cachet

Paquebot
SEYÐISFJØRDUR

Datestamp 26 VIII 1975

M/S SMYRIL cachet (signed)

Paquebot
FREDERIKSHAVN

Dated 24 FEB 1976

M/S SMYRIL cachet


PAQUEBOT
TÓRSHAVN

Datestamp 14.6.77

Routing marks (purple):

SMYRIL
 
and

FROM
FAROES



PAQUEBOT
TÓRSHAVN

Datestamp 14.8.78

Routing marks (black):

SMYRIL
 
and

TO
FAROES



PAQUEBOT
TÓRSHAVN

Datestamp 20 JUN 19x7

pf. SMYRIL LINE cachet


Smyril V
is the largest ferry in the fleet and the 5th vessel to carry the name. She was built at the IZAR shipyard in San Fernando, Spain. She entered service on the 15 October 2005. The ferry takes 200 cars and 975 passengers.

It is the only ferry, which transports people, cars and cargo between the southern island Suðuroy and the capital Tórshavn. The place in Suðuroy, where the ferry calls is called Krambatangi, which is situated on the fjord of Trongisvágur, opposite the largest town in Suðuroy, Tvøroyri. The trip from Tórshavn to Tvøroyri takes 2 hours. It then takes less than 15 minutes to drive from Krambatangi to the second largest town, Vágur, which is further south in Suðuroy It is also possible to go by bus from the harbour at Krambatangi to all other villages on the island.

Since the ship spends every night at the harbour in Tvøroyri, you are very welcome to spend the night in one of the 32 comfortable rooms on board.

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