Strandfaraskip Landsins

Strandfaraskip Landsins was established in 1917 when the government took over the ferry Smiril from the brothers Petur og Niels Juel Mortensen from Suðuroy. They had bought the ship in 1895 and operated a scheduled service between Tórshavn and several ports in Suðuroy. In the first half of the 20th century, several other private regional services were founded, which combined freight, mail, passengers and milk transport to and from Tórshavn. Due to the lack of roads, ferries also served as a means for transport between villages-on-the-same-island. Many routes and vessels were taken over by Strandfaraskip Landsins in the 1960s and 1970s.

From 1960 onwards the road network was being extended rapidly and several private bus routes were founded. In 1980 the government agency Bygdaleiðir was established and tasked with the integrated bus network in central Streymoy, linking Tórshavn to the ferry service to Vágar, and on Sandoy. Several private companies were taken over in the subsequent years. Bygdaleiðir fused into Strandfaraskip Landsins in the 1990s.

In 1980 Strandfaraskip was appointed responsibility over the new helicopter network. This was transferred to Atlantic Airways in 1994. Strandfaraskip's freight branch was privatised in 2006, with the exception of public service obligations to the outer islands.

Until February 2008 the administration of Strandfaraskip Landsins was located in Tórshavn, but in 2007 Jacob Vestergaard, then-Minister of Internal Affairs, moved it to Tvøroyri on the island of Suðuroy. This served to decentralise jobs in the public sector and was a kind reminder of Strandfaraskip Landsins' roots in Suðuroy.

The name Strandfaraskip Landsins means 'national coastal transport', reminiscing of its original focus on seaborne transport. It is often referred to Strandferðslan or SSL. The ferry routes are known as oyggjaleiðir (Island routes) and bus routes as bygdaleiðir (Village routes).