From the first car to great leap in technology

This year a century has passed since the first car was shipped to the Faroe Islands. A crowd gathered down at the harbour in Tórshavn when the Ford arrived. It was a big event in the little island community. The vehicle cost DKK 5000, equivalent to 4 or 6 years of wages. Many Faroese had only ever seen a car in the papers, so it was a memorable day.

Much has changed over these 100 years. The Faroese car fleet is larger than ever with over 41,000 registered vehicles. Now we take it for granted that we can just get in the car and cruise effortlessly from a to b. Faroese infrastructure is of the highest standards and ferries and busses connect every village. In addition, Atlantic Airways’ helicopter service plays a crucial role in our social infrastructure by interlinking the archipelago with regular flights to outlying islands.

And precisely the helicopter service is on the brink of a major technological breakthrough. A brand new high tech helicopter simulator has been commissioned by Atlantic Airways, and it will be ready for use by 2024.

Compared to existing simulators worldwide available to our helicopter pilots to train in, the Faroese simulator will have groundbreaking new equipment, and we look forward to welcoming pilots and rescue crews from around the globe to the Faroe Islands to train and thereby making helicopter flights safer worldwide. In this instalment of Atlantic Review you can read both about the first car, which arrived in 1922, and the new simulator, which will soon land on these shores.

From high tech we move to ancient craft. Wool tells us the story of how the Faroese found solutions during periods of great isolation, and about how the population managed to survive at all on these wet and cold cliffs over the centuries. 90-year-old Ása Hátún published the book “Søgur um ull” – “Stories of Wool” last year. And we met Ása for a chat about wool, its significance and the craft.

And you can read on about Jákup Petur Eliassen who was bed-bound, but fought his way up again with tenacious training. In recent years Jákup Petur has performed several athletic exploits that took great strength and, not least, willpower.

We have also met a grand old man of Faroese politics, Edmund Joensen, who is bowing out of the political arena. And we invite you to read on about sailor tattoos, about a refugee family from Ukraine, who fled to the Faroe Islands after the Russian invasion earlier this year and more. Enticing and enriching reads.

Innihald / Contents:

08 Ullin hevur bjargað føroyingum Wool saved the Faroese

18 Úr songini upp á tindin From immobile to ironman

28 Flóttar í Føroyum: Frá hvøllum bumbubrestum til frið og tryggleika Refugees in the Faroe Islands: Finding peace and safety

40 Edmund gevst í politikki: – At stjórna landinum undir kreppuni sleit mest Bowing out of politics: – Steering through the crisis was tough

50 Framtíðina eiga tey, sum droyma stórt The future belongs to those who dream big

60 Sjómanstatoveringar og longsulin eftir at koma heim Sailor tattoos and the longing for home

70 Fyrsti bilurin í Føroyum 100 ár The first Ford in the Faroe Islands

90 Barnasíðan Children’s page

91 Krossorð & Sudoku Crossword puzzle and Sudoku

92 Nøvnini á flotanum hjá Atlantic Airways Fleet names

94 Søgan um Atlantic Airways The story of Atlantic Airways prentsmiðja 541 705

ATLANTIC REVIEW is published by Atlantic Airways, Vagar Airport, FO-380 Sørvágur, tel. +298 34 10 00. Advertising: atlanticreview@atlantic.fo. Editor: Ingrid Bjarnastein – ingrid@atlantic.fo. Layout: Jensia Gaardlykke Rossum – jensia@atlantic.fo. Responsibility: Jóhanna á Bergi. Proof and translation: Sprotin.fo. Printed by: foroyaprent.fo. This publication may only be reproduced in agreement with the publishers. Cover: Jákup Petur Eliassen. Photo by: Súsanna Smith Johansen.