The 3,300-lane-metre vessel is the second of two
Ro-Ro cargo ships ordered by the company. Smyril Line said Akranesis
scheduled to depart China next week, bound for Europe. The delivery voyage is expected to take
approximately six weeks. That would place the vessel's arrival in Tórshavn in
the Faroe Islands in early December. Akranes
is the earlier vessel in the construction sequence. During Akranes' first sea trials, a
fault was discovered in her shaft generator, leading her to switch places with
her sister Skipanes in the yard's production schedule. Smyril Line
accepted Skipanes on August 25.
On September 2, a fire broke
out in Skipanes’ engine room while she was
approximately 20 nautical miles off Taiwan. No injuries were reported, and the
crew extinguished the fire using the ship's CO₂ suppression system. Skipanes returned to Xiamen and
then moved to a Hong Kong shipyard for engine room cleaning and repairs. She
has been at the yard since September 19.
Faroese broadcaster KringvarpFøroya reported that the repairs are
expected to be completed in late November.
Akranes has an LOA of 189.5 metres, a gross tonnage of 29,891 and a service speed of 18 knots. The ship was designed by Smyril Line and Knud E. Hansen for year-round North Atlantic service.