Optimism ahead as Iceland opens its borders

Minutes after Iceland announced a partial reopening of its borders yesterday, Faroese travellers started enquiring about trips to Iceland with Smyril Line ferry Norrøna.

The ferry has been in regular service through most of the corona lockout period but mostly carrying cargo and only the occasional passenger.

Smyril Line CEO Rúni Vang Poulsen is delighted to see signs of activity again now after two months with massive losses for the company.

 >> SEE ALSO Norrøna suspends all passenger transport

“Luckily, our cargo services have not been affected in a great way by this crisis, but we suspended all passenger transport for two weeks in March, and after that we’ve had very few passengers,” he says.

“The latest Norrøna trip from Iceland had a mere 15 passengers, compared with an average of 800 at this time of year, so you can imagine the financial distress this has caused to our company.”

Record-high profits last year

This year’s troubles come on the back of all-time high profits for Smyril Line last year, with DKK 75 million in net profits.

Total sales in 2019 were DKK 937 million, compared to DKK 845 million the previous year.

Poulsen expects to see a deficit of at least DKK 500 million this year.

Smyril line has a workforce of about 475 people.

Translated by prosa.fo