The era of the ferries
After the abolition of the royal monopoly in 1856 - and the transition from a medieval peasant society to a modern fishing nation had begun, the need for better transport options arose in the Faroe Islands. There was call for a combined cargo and passenger ship was that could sail the coasts of the Faroe Islands.
After ten years of tug-of-war with the Parliament to provide a public coastal freight and passenger service, the management of the Faroe Islands’ largest company, A / S J. Mortensens Eftf. lost patience. They simply had a steamship built in Sweden and had it delivered to the Faroes in December 1895. The ship was named Smiril - and in January 1896 it started sailing regular routes between Tvøroyri, serving the communities in Suðuroy, and Tórshavn, serving the larger communities in the rest of the country.
When A / S J. Mortensens Eftf. had shown that investing in coastal sailing in the Faroe Islands was profitable, other private players immediately joined the fray - and soon small cargo and passenger ships were sailing between the islands.
