Earlier this month, Minister of Finance Uni Rasmussen established a government-owned corporation to oversee the construction of a mammoth future underwater road tunnel to link the islands Suðuroy and Sandoy. The fixed link will make the southernmost island part of the so-called Main Area of the Faroes.
The project is to become by far the largest and technically as well as financially the most ambitious in modern Faroese history.
The board of directors of the new company consists of board members from Eystur- og Sandoyartunlar, the company that operates and oversaw the development of the Eysturoy Tunnel which opened two years ago, and the Sandoy Tunnel, which is scheduled to open in December 2023 or earlier.
According to media reports, the newly-appointed board of Suðuroyartunnilin (Suðuroy Tunnel) has appointed Bergur Poulsen as chairman, with Marita Súsanna Hentze as vice chair; the other members are Gudmund Mortensen, Mathea Hilduberg, and Uni Danielsen. Teitur Samuelsen, the Chief Executive of Eystur- og Sandoyartunlar, will simultaneously serve at the helm of the new tunnel company.
At this point the share capital of the Suðuroy Tunnel corporation is no more than four million DKK (0.54 mn. EUR), we’re told. That is likely sufficient to initiate basic appraisals and surveys necessary to precede actual project design, construction and finalization.
The stated purpose of the new company is “to build an undersea tunnel between Sandoy and Suðuroy and the required connecting roads. The purpose is also to operate the tunnel once completed.”