Categories: Halifax Shipping News

Pilotage and the Norwegian Viking Ship Draken Harald Hårfagre

The Norwegian Viking Ship Draken Harald Hårfagre recently ran into trouble where they were informed they require a pilot to traverse the great lakes to Participate in Tall Ships events. Pilots bill at $400, and they estimate the cost to be over 400,000$ to complete the planned trip. As a result they were debating getting out of the lakes entirely.

there was some confusion as to why this became an issue now – After they traveled the seaway and toured lake Ontario; as well the Great lakes Pilotage Association said vessels under 35m are exempt.

The Great Lakes Pilotage Authority (GLPA) is a Canadian Federal Crown Corporation responsible for administering the Pilotage Act in the Great Lakes region, In Canada (the Great Lakes Region), foreign flag ships such as the visiting Norwegian ship, are subject to pilotage only when they exceed 35 meters in length. In this case, the vessel’s length is less than 35 meters, and therefore is not subject to pilotage in Canadian waters.
The USCG is responsible for Pilotage in the Lakes through its Great Lakes Pilotage Division (CG-WWM-2) Unit. US law applies to American waters, and while American and Canadian pilots can work in either countries waters, Canadian Pilotage exemptions do not apply to US Waters.
So in Short – the Draken Harald Hårfagre is fine in Canada, but screwed in the US.

Original article: Pilotage and the Norwegian Viking Ship Draken Harald Hårfagre.

Halifax Shipping News

Halifax Shipping News began in 2008 as a blog called The Armchair Captain. The idea behind it came when I would become curious about the comings and goings in the harbour, and research to find their source. I figured if I was wondering, others would be as well, and so I would blog about them. 5+ years later, here we are. This blog is written by Peter Ziobrowski. Peter is a Senior IT System Architect, and holds a BA in the History & Theory of Architecture,as well as diplomas in Computer System Technology and Information System Security. His personal site can be found at http://www.ziobrowski.net. Peter is available for media interviews on local Maritime issues. He also holds a large collection of photos of shipping subjects from Halifax suitable for publication. You can contact him directly via email at peter@halifaxshippingnews.ca.

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9 years ago

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