port Arctic Umiaq Line traces its origins to
Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel (KGH), which was responsible for colonial trade in Greenland starting in 1774. In 1986, KGH was placed under the administration of the
Greenlandic government and was restructured into the state-owned enterprise KNI in 1992–1993. A subsidiary of KNI,
Pilersuisoq, was tasked with passenger and freight shipping, utilizing the vessels Saqqit Ittuk, Sarfaq Ittuk, and Sarpik Ittuk, which operated in northern, central, and southern Greenland, respectively. By the following year, all ships were reassigned to routes covering the entire western coast of Greenland due to operational demand. On 1 July 1997, a political decision led to the formation of KNI Rederi, a new entity responsible for maritime transport. On 1 January 1998, freight services were transferred to
Royal Arctic Bygdeservice, a subsidiary of
Royal Arctic Line, while KNI Rederi was separated from the KNI group to focus exclusively on passenger services, continuing as a state-owned company. In February 1998, KNI Rederi was renamed Arctic Umiaq Line. Some sources list 2006 as the founding year of Arctic Umiaq Line, reflecting the point at which the company became distinct from its predecessors. Since 2007, Arctic Umiaq Line has been operating at a deficit, with the CEO Søren Grønhøj Andersen sued for mismanagement. The company carried fewer passengers for the first nine months of 2009 than in the comparable period of the previous year. The
Greenland Home Rule Government has continued to provide loss guarantees to the joint owners. In fiscal 2011, this amounted to
DKK 8.1 million, and Royal Arctic Line announced that loss guarantees have been secured through 2016. ==Operations==