12-Jul-16 – A thousand years ago, it was the Viking ships doing the shakedowns. The tables have turned and authorities on the Great Lakes say the Draken Harald Hårfagre, currently on Lake Erie and due in Chicago in two weeks, must have a local pilot on board to help it navigate, at a cost of $400 per hour.

Viking Kings A/S, the non-profit organization that is bringing the ship to the United States, estimates the total cost to sail the Great Lakes would be $400,000 USD, and announced on Tuesday it may have to cancel the rest of the trip.

The Draken left Norway on April 26 and was expected in Chicago for the Tall Ships Festival on July 27.

The expedition says before leaving Norway it was told by the Canadian-based Great Lakes Pilotage Authority that due to the ship’s small size, it would not have to have a pilot required of all foreign ships. This week, however, they learned they would need a pilot and the cost was not negotiable.

The fees are “not within reason,” says Sigurd Aase (left), owner and curator of the expedition. “We are a non-profit project with the intention to spread knowledge about the Vikings seafaring and to inspire people to pursue dreams and look beyond the horizon, as modern Vikings.”

Captain Bjőrn Ahlander says the $400 hourly rate is the same as what a commercial freighter would be charged.

“It is very disappointing,” said Ahlander (right). “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 cannot pursue this expedition.”

Coast Guard says Draken should have known of requirement

The problem is “on the American side,” the expedition told Loop North News on Tuesday, and the Draken learned of it “right before entering U.S. waters.”

Robert Lemire, CEO of Great Lakes Piloting Authority, told Minneapolis Star Tribune the Draken did not need a pilot while it was in Canadian waters, but once it left Montreal, it entered waters under the jurisdiction of the United States Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard says it understands the interest that communities throughout the Great Lakes has for the Draken, but it does not have the legal authority to waive the pilotage requirement. According to a statement released on Tuesday, the Coast Guard says it told representatives of the Draken about the rule, established in 1960, during planning discussions over the past year.

(Left) A Canadian pilot at the helm of the Draken. Captain Ahlander in center. (Click on image to view larger version.)

Also on Tuesday, it was announced the Draken will at least move on to its next destination, Bay City, Michigan.

“There is not room in our budget to go further west into the Great Lakes but we cannot let the people in Bay City down,” said 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.”

As for the unexpected cost, the expedition says it will wait a “couple of days” but if they cannot get it covered, they will leave the Great Lakes “as soon as possible.”

David Nordin of Friends of the Viking Ship, caretakers of a replica built for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, says the Draken Harald Hårfagre should be exempt from the Coast Guard regulation.

“Any regulation about a vessel’s length as the determining factor in requiring a pilot must also make assumptions that such vessels are automatically heavy, tall, and with limited visibility – of surrounding small vessels – and maneuverability, all of which are inapplicable here,” says Nordin (right).

He says the unique shape of Viking ships was not what authors of the regulations had in mind.

But since the Draken is so popular, Nordin says someone may come to its rescue.

“There must be some history-loving, volunteer maritime lawyers out there among the ship’s thousands of online friends, or maybe a history-loving volunteer pilot, who realize that destiny is calling their name.”

Sons of Norway to manage fundraising effort

As of Friday morning, the fraternal life insurance company Sons of Norway had raised $12,000 to help with the pilot fees, with the goal of raising $430,000. The Minneapolis-based organization, now the Draken’s official fundraising partner, says there is “a deluge of interest in donating” to help the vessel continue. Duluth, Minnesota, was scheduled as the last stop for the Draken before it returns to the east coast.

“The Draken’s voyage has stirred the imagination of so many people around the world and inspired the hearts of those within our organization, too,” said Sons of Norway CEO Eivind Heiberg (left). “Its urgent need fits with Sons of Norway’s mission to promote and to preserve the heritage and culture of Norway.”

The Draken is not the only non-profit ship on the Great Lakes having to come up with six-figure piloting fees. El Galeon Andalucia, a replica of a Spanish galleon, will have to pay an estimated $275,000. Helping to keep its cost down is a motor on the galleon that will get the ship to ports faster than the Draken’s sail and oars.

(Right) El Galeon Andalucia in a “Parade of Sail” event in Ohio on July 7. Behind it is the Draken Harald Hårfagre. The Coast Guard vessel is from Station Fairport in Grand River, Ohio. Photo by Eric Hanson. (Click on image to view larger version.)