With yard number H616, AKRANES is actually the first of the two sister ships, despite being delivered last. SKIPANES, yard number H617, was delivered first after overtaking AKRANES in the yard’s production schedule following the discovery of a serious fault with AKRANES’ shaft generator during its first sea trials.

Both vessels have suffered setbacks. When the second ship SKIPANES was delivered in late August as the first of the two sisters, it was only just over a day into its delivery voyage to the Faroe Islands when a fire broke out in the engine room off Taiwan. The fire was quickly brought under control. SKIPANES has been at a shipyard in Hong Kong since 19 September.

With the delivery voyage from CIMC Raffles in Yantai expected to take around six weeks, a departure during week 43 would see AKRANES arrive in Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands in early December. Smyril Line has yet to announce an expected departure date from Hong Kong for SKIPANES. The company has recently chartered the 2,475-lane-metre MAXINE from CLdN to cover for the delayed AKRANES and SKIPANES, each of which has a capacity of 3,300 lane metres.

Read also: MAXINE chartered by Smyril Line

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