19-Jul-16 – The Draken Harald Hårfagre will keep going, at least to Chicago, where it is expected at the Tall Ships Festival on July 27. The fate of the Viking ship, 115 feet long and 26 feet wide, the largest built in modern times, had been unknown after its crew was surprised by a United States Coast Guard requirement that a $400 per hour pilot be on board to help navigate the Great Lakes.

“We are going to Chicago,” the expedition announced on its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon. “We do not yet know about the rest of the expedition, but right now we focus on preparing for Navy Pier in Chicago.”

Sons of Norway, the Minneapolis-based life insurance company that became the Draken’s official fundraising partner last week, has raised more than $54,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, with the goal of raising $430,000, the estimated total cost. Duluth, Minnesota, was scheduled as the last stop for the Draken before it returns to the east coast.

At last report, the Draken was moored at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Michigan, offering tours of the ship for $10 admission. Once it leaves Alpena, the plan is to get to Chicago as fast as possible to keep pilotage fees as low as possible.

The Draken’s arrival in Bay City, the previous stop, was delayed because of a distress call the crew intercepted on Lake Huron. Being the closest vessel, the Draken changed course and helped search for the source of the call, using its rescue-trained crew and an infrared camera. The mission, however, was called off by the Coast Guard two hours later.

(Left) The Draken searches for the source of a distress call it intercepted on July 13 at about 9:15 p.m.

Before the expedition left Norway on April 26, it was told by the Canadian-based Great Lakes Pilotage Authority that due to the ship’s size, it would not have to have a pilot required of all foreign ships. But once the Draken left Montreal, it entered waters under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard, which said it does not have the legal authority to waive its pilotage requirement.