Huftaroy

On May 1, 2019, several departures on the ferry connection E39 Halhjem - Sandvikvåg were canceled. In the morning, four scheduled departures did not take place due to technical problems of the "Huftarøy". In the evening, Torghatten Nord announced that the departures at 6.30 p.m. from Halhjem and 7.20 p.m. from Sandvikvåg were also canceled due to ongoing trouble with the "Huftarøy", one of the new ferries on the route. She was sidelined in Rubbestadneset for troubleshooting. The "Fanafjord" was inserted as a replacement ferry.

Several departures of the ferry connection between Halhjem and Sandvikvåg had to be cancelled since April 3 due to technical trouble of the "Huftarøy". The ship was sent to a yard in Ølensvåg for troubleshooting, where it berthed at 3.15 p.m. The departures on April 5 at 08.30, 11.50 a.m. and 3.10 p.m. from Sandvikvåg as well as the sailings at 07.40, 11.00 a.m. and 2.20 p.m. from Halhjem were canceled. The ferry "Tranøy" was called as a replacement which was, however, slower with its top speed of 16 knots.

After the "Huftarøy", one of the two new ferries on the Halhjem-Sandvikvåg link, ran aground in the night of March 12, two night departures were canceled between Halhjem and Sandvikvåg. The "Huftarøy" touched the bottom with one of the propellers inside Sandvikvåg and had to be taken out of service. Cars and passengers were dropped off in Sandvikvåg after the grounding. The departures from Sandvikvåg at 02.30 and 05.30 were canceled as a result of the incident. The "Huftarøy" headed southwards towards Haugesund in the morning of March 13, escorted by the tug "BB Server", and reached Horten on March 16 at 8.30 a.m. The ferry "Flatøy" was called from Brevik in Telemark to be on route at the end of the week as a replacement. The "Huftarøy" sailed from Horten again on March 25, bound to Rubbestadneset. Norwegian report with photo: https://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/i/6nmVx8/Ny-ferge-gikk-pa-grunn