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Ship Photos of the Day – Real Viking Ship Completes North Atlantic Crossing
Topic Started: 29 Jun 2016, 11:14 PM (19 Views)
skibboy
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Ship Photos of the Day – Real Viking Ship Completes North Atlantic Crossing

June 29, 2016 by gCaptain

Posted Image
Photo: Draken Harald Hårfagre

The world’s largest viking ship has arrived in North America after crossing the North Atlantic Ocean on a journey from its homeport in Haugesund, Norway.

The Viking ship, named Draken Harald Hårfagre, set sail from Norway with its approximately 32 crew members in late April and made stops in Iceland, Greenland and New Foundland, Canada, before making its way through the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Toronto for the Tall Ships Challenge Great Lakes 2016 festival this weekend.

Future stops for the Viking ship include Chicago, Green Bay and Duluth, before heading to U.S. east coast with stops in New York City and finally Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut in October.

Draken Harald Hårfagre is actually not a replica, rather a real-life Viking ship built based ancient Norwegian boat building techniques dug up from the history books and archaeological findings.

Construction was completed in 2014 and it is now heralded as the world’s largest Viking ship ever built in modern times.

Posted Image
Photo: Draken Harald Hårfagre

Posted Image
Photo: Draken Harald Hårfagre

Posted Image
Photo: Draken Harald Hårfagre

Posted Image
Photo: Draken Harald Hårfagre

Posted Image
Photo: Draken Harald Hårfagre

Posted Image
Photo: Draken Harald Hårfagre

Source: Posted Image gCaptain
Edited by skibboy, 29 Jun 2016, 11:15 PM.
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skibboy
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After Sailing from Across North Atlantic, Real Viking Ship Forced to Leave Great Lakes Over Pilot Fees

July 13, 2016 by Mike Schuler

Posted Image
Draken Harald Hårfagr. Photo: Draken Expedition America

A modern day Viking ship that sailed all the way from Norway to attend a Great Lakes tall ship festival may not even make be forced to turn back over an issue regarding pilotage fees.

The Norwegian Viking Ship, Draken Harald Hårfagr, has already sailed across the North Atlantic with stops in Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland, and is currently in Lake Erie after having passed through the the St Lawrence Seaway.

It is headed to the Tall Ships Challenge Great Lakes 2016 race series, a tall ship race through all five Great Lakes with port appearances in cities throughout the United States and Canada.

The non-profit behind the Draken however, Draken Expedition America, says that the Viking ship recently entered the Great Lakes with information from the Great Lakes Pilotage Authorities that the ship would not be required to obtain pilotage based on a rule stating, in part, that “…Foreign ships of less than 35 meters in overall length are not subject to compulsory pilotage in the Great Lakes Region”.

Unfortunately, the organization later learned when entering the St Lawrence Seaway that the ship actually is required a pilot at all times while at sea, with no possibility of a discount on fees.

If the ship were to participate in the Tall Ships Challenge Great Lakes as scheduled, the cost for the pilotage would be well over $400,000 – a fee so high that it is simply not possible for a non-profit like Draken Expedition America, the organization says.

“We are required a pilot as soon as we leave the dock with the cost of 400 USD per hour, the rate as a commercial freight ship,” says Captain Björn Ahlander. “It is very disappointing, the people in the harbors around the lakes are expecting us and we have been warmly welcomed in every port we have visited, it is a pity if we can not pursue this expedition.”

Despite the setback, the organization has decided to attend this weekend’s Tall Ships Celebration in Bay City, Michigan, despite the hefty fees associated with it.

“There is not room in our budget to go further west into the Great Lakes, but we can not let the people in Bay City down,” added Captain Ahlander. “The Tall Ships Celebration in Bay City is just days away and the planning is in its final stages, it would be great disappointment for us and more importantly to the people we already committed to.”

But soon after this weekend’s festival, the Draken will be forced to leave the Great Lakes as soon as possible unless it can raise enough money to fund the rest of the trip.

“It is very unfortunate if Draken Harald Hårfagre is not able to continue the expedition to sail the waters where there is a such high interest, and presence of the cultural heritage from the Nordic countries. At present, the only solution for Draken Harald Hårfagre to stay in the Great Lakes is if the project somehow gets the cost for pilotage covered,” the organization said.

As gCaptain reported a few weeks ago after the ship completed its transatlantic voyage, Draken Harald Hårfagre is actually not a replica, rather it’s a real-life Viking ship built based ancient Norwegian boat building techniques dug up from the history books and archaeological findings.

Construction was completed in 2014 and it is now heralded as the world’s largest Viking ship ever built in modern times.

Outside the Great Lakes, the Draken’s schedule still includes a stop in New York City and finally Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut in October.

The news of Draken plight comes as the U.S. Coast Guard, who sets Great Lakes pilotage rates, is being sued by a coalition of foreign-flag shipping companies and trade organizations in Canada and United States over a drastic increase in pilotage rates on the Great Lakes.

Source: Posted Image gCaptain
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skibboy
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Viking Ship Cuts Voyage Short Due to Pilotage Fees

Posted Image
Image courtesy Draken Harald Hårfagre

2016-08-04

The crew of the world's largest Viking ship replica thought that their trans-Atlantic voyage to the Great Lakes might be halted – not by foul weather or a vessel casualty, but by pilotage fees.

On Thursday, they said that while they had raised enough to complete most of their planned voyage, they would still have to cut it short.

On their arrival in the U.S., the crew of the 115-foot sailing vessel Draken Harald Hårfagre were surprised to learn that she is just long enough to require a pilot on the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes.

At rates of up to $9,000 per day, her backers expected the pilotage cost to run to $400,000, an amount they had neither anticipated nor budgeted.

The crew worked with the Great Lakes pilots' associations to plan out a shorter, more economical course, and they brought the cost down to $250,000; online fundraising sponsored by the Sons of Norway took in nearly $150,000, enough to take the Hårfagre as far as a festival at Green Bay, Wisconsin, but not further.

After the festival she will exit the Great Lakes and head for New York.

"Even with this significant reduction in cost, we have not been able to raise enough funds to complete our entire expedition," said the Viking Kings, the Hårfagre's parent organization. "So it is with a heavy heart that [we have] come to the decision to make the Tall Ships Festival in Green Bay the last stop in this Tall Ships Challenge."

The organization expressed its thanks to the pilots, the Coast Guard and the donors who took the Hårfagre so far.

In a statement, the crew also asked the expedition’s supporters not to blame the pilots' associations for the pilotage requirements, which are contained in a federal statute and cannot be waived.

"We have been informed that the pilot associations have been receiving threats and being harassed by angry individuals," wrote Woodrow Wiest, watchleader on the Hårfagre. "I hope we can come together and take an approach to this that is with kindness, honesty, and integrity. We respect pilots and their profession."

Some pilots told local media that they were not pleased with the high profile of the Hårfagre episode.

"It is the life mission of every pilot to keep out of the headlines," said John Swartout, president of the Western Great Lakes Pilots Association, speaking to the Duluth News Tribune. "We do our best when nobody knows we're there . . . it may not be intentional but the effect [on pilots] was to be villainized."

Source: Posted Image gCaptain
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