.jpg) Docked inSt. John's Harbour in 2023 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Sweden | |
| Name | Vidar Viking |
| Owner | Trans Viking Icebreaking & Offshore |
| Port of registry | |
| Builder | Havyard Leirvik,Leirvik,Norway |
| Yard number | 284[2] |
| Laid down | 14 December 1999[2] |
| Launched | 25 November 2000[2] |
| Completed | 16 February 2001[2] |
| In service | 2001–2018 |
| Fate | Sold to Canada in 2018 |
 Canada | |
| Name | CCGSCaptain Molly Kool |
| Namesake | Molly Kool |
| Owner | Canadian Coast Guard |
| Acquired | 14 December 2018 |
| Commissioned | 30 May 2019 |
| In service | 2019–present |
| Homeport | CCG Base St John's (Newfoundland and Labrador Region) |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics (as built)[2] | |
| Type | Icebreaker,Anchor handling tug supply vessel |
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | 6,872 tons (maximum) |
| Length | 83.7 m (275 ft) |
| Beam | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Draught |
|
| Depth | 8.5 m (28 ft) |
| Ice class | DNVICE-10 Icebreaker |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Crew | 23 |
| General characteristics (after conversion)[4][5][6] | |
| Type | Medium icebreaker (CCG) |
| Ice class | |
| Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) (service) |
| Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) |
| Endurance | 42 days |
| Crew | 19 (9 officers, 10 crew) |
| Notes | Otherwise same as above |
CCGSCaptain Molly Kool is aCanadian Coast Guard converted medium classicebreaker.[8] She was originally built as an icebreakinganchor handling tugVidar Viking forTrans Viking Icebreaking & Offshore in 2001.[9][10] The vessel was acquired by the Canadian Coast Guard in August 2018 and was commissioned in May of the next year after refit.[11] She is named after the Canadian sailor,Molly Kool.
CCGSCaptain Molly Kool has two sister vessels,CCGS Jean Goodwill andCCGS Vincent Massey, both of which are converted offshore vessels.
CCGSCaptain Molly Kool is 83.7 metres (275 ft)long overall and 77.77 metres (255 ft)between perpendiculars. Her hull has abeam of 18 metres (59 ft) andmoulded depth of 8.5 metres (28 ft). Atdesign draught, she draws 6.5 metres (21 ft) of water, but can be loaded to a maximum draught of 7.22 metres (24 ft) which corresponds to a displacement of 6,872 tons.[3] Originally built toDNV ice class "ICE-10 Icebreaker", her hull structures and propulsion system will be upgraded toPolar Class 4 level[7] and the vessel will be rated as Arctic Class 2 in Canadian service.[citation needed] Originally she was served by a crew of 23, but this has been reduced to 19 (9 officers and 10 crew) when the vessel was acquired by the Canadian Coast Guard.[2][6]
CCGSCaptain Molly Kool has four medium-speeddiesel engines geared to twocontrollable pitch propellers innozzles. She has twoeight-cylinderMaK 8M32 and twosix-cylinder MaK 6M32 diesel engines rated at 3,840 kW (5,150 hp) and 2,880 kW (3,860 hp) each. With a total propulsion power of 13,440 kW (18,020 hp), she can achieve a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) in open water and break 1-metre (3.3 ft) ice at a continuous speed of 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph). In addition, she has twobow thrusters (one fixed, one retractable and azimuthing) and one transverse stern thruster for maneuvering anddynamic positioning.[2]
In 2004,Vidar Viking acted as thedrillship for the Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) in the high Arctic. The vessel remained on location in the multi-year polar ice pack for nine days while being supported by the Swedish icebreakerOden and the Russiannuclear-powered icebreakerSovetskiy Soyuz.[12] During the expedition, the ship stopped at the North Pole.[13]
In late January 2010, theSwedish Maritime Administration called forVidar Viking andTor Viking to serve as icebreakers in theBaltic Sea.[14]The vessels were chartered on a contingency basis — where Trans Viking's parent company,Transatlantic, receives a basic flat fee for the vessels to be available within ten days, without regard to whether they were used. Their previous usage was in 2007. The contract expired in 2015.
In February 2010Balder Viking,Vidar Viking andLoke Viking were chartered byEdinburgh-based oil companyCairn Energy for four months, starting in June 2010, for drilling operations inBaffin Bay.[15]
In 2012, the Swedish Maritime Administration agreed to end the charter forVidar Viking prematurely for the 2011–2012 Baltic Sea icebreaking season and all subsequent seasons. The vessel then provided icebreaking services for theEstonian Maritime Administration for one winter season before heading toSakhalin where she provided icebreaking, supply and anchor handling services starting from summer 2012 for Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Limited. After six months, she was reflagged to Russia and her crew changed to Russians.[16][17]Vidar Viking was reflagged to Danish International Register of Shipping in 2016 and to Norway in 2017.
In 2016,Chantier Davie Canada began offeringVidar Viking and her sister ships as a replacement to the ageing Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers under the monikerProject Resolute.[18] In addition to the three Swedish icebreaking offshore vessels, the offer also included a fourth slightly bigger and more powerful vessel, the US-flaggedAiviq.[19] In August 2018, Chantier Davie Canada was awarded a Can$610 million dollar contract for the acquisition and refitting of the three vessels.[20] On 10 August 2018, Viking Supply Ships announced the sale of its three vessels to Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada for a profit of $274 million.[21][22] Once retrofitted at Davie Shipbuilding, the vessels are expected to remain in service in the Canadian Coast Guard for 15 to 25 years.[23][24]
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The vessel was the first to be ready to undertake Coast Guard missions.[25] She had been repainted in Coast Guard livery on 13 November 2018. Some of the modifications the Coast Guard plans for the vessel, and her sister ships, were deferred, so that she could be employed ice-breaking in the St Lawrence estuary during the winter of 2019.[26] In particular, one highly visible deferred item will be the addition of a landing pad and hangar for a light utility helicopter.
CCGSCaptain Molly Kool was named after CaptainMolly Kool (1916–2009), born inAlma, New Brunswick, who was the first female licensed ship captain in North America. She was also the first female deep sea Captain in North America. At the time, she was only the second woman in the world to hold that achievement. Having grown up spending her summers sailing with her father in waters in and around theBay of Fundy, Molly learned about life at sea and became an accomplished sailor. After high school, Molly convinced the Merchant Marine School inSaint John, New Brunswick to admit her as a student. She would obtain her Mate's certificate in 1937. In 1939, she obtained her coastal Master's Certificate and graduated from the Merchant Marine Institute inYarmouth, Nova Scotia.[6]
On 22 March 2019,Captain Molly Kool andCCGS Louis S. St-Laurent were dispatched to aid thetankerJana Desgagnes which had damaged a rudder in heavy ice 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi) southwest ofPort-aux-Basques, Newfoundland.Captain Molly Kool towed the vessel further out to sea to await the arrival of a tugboat, which would take the tanker toSydney, Nova Scotia for repairs.[27] During the operation,Captain Molly Kool used her towing notch, a feature not present in other CCG icebreakers currently in service, to escort the stricken tanker through the ice.[28]
CCGSCaptain Molly Kool was officially commissioned into Canadian Coast Guard fleet on 30 May 2019.[29]
TransAtlantic has a long-term contract with the SMA, which entails that the vessels must be available during the first quarter of the year as required and within ten days for icebreaking in the Baltic Sea. In return, Transatlantic receives an annual basic fee, regardless of whether icebreaking is conducted or not. If icebreaking is conducted, the fee is increased. The contract expires in 2015, with an option to extend for an additional 15 years.
Although counter-intuitive, the need for more icebreaker when there is less ice is because the Arctic ice starts moving around early and throughout the shipping season causing largely unpredictable ice dams. This is already reported by the Coast Guard and the marine companies resupplying the Canadian Arctic communities.
On Monday, Norwegian harsh-environment OSV operator Viking Supply Ships announced that it has sold three icebreaking anchor handlers to the government of Canada, which will retrofit them for use by the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).
The Canadian Press reports that there are no immediate plans to replace the Coast Guard's existing vessels which are on average more than 35 years old.
The ex-Vidar Viking icebreaker was floated out of Davie's Champlain drydock on 13 November with a fresh coat of paint in CCG colours.
