Vidar Viking (2001–2018) In 2004,
Vidar Viking acted as the
drillship 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 icebreaker
Oden and the Russian
nuclear-powered icebreaker Sovetskiy Soyuz. During the expedition, the ship stopped at the North Pole. In late January 2010, the
Swedish Maritime Administration called for
Vidar Viking and
Tor Viking to serve as icebreakers in the
Baltic Sea. 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 2010
Balder Viking,
Vidar Viking and were chartered by
Edinburgh-based oil company
Cairn Energy for four months, starting in June 2010, for drilling operations in
Baffin Bay. In 2012, the Swedish Maritime Administration agreed to end the charter for
Vidar Viking prematurely for the 2011–2012 Baltic Sea icebreaking season and all subsequent seasons. The vessel then provided icebreaking services for the
Estonian Maritime Administration for one winter season before heading to
Sakhalin 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.
Vidar Viking was reflagged to Danish International Register of Shipping in 2016 and to Norway in 2017.
CCGS Captain Molly Kool (2018–present) In 2016,
Chantier Davie Canada began offering
Vidar Viking and her sister ships as a replacement to the ageing Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers under the moniker
Project Resolute. In addition to the three Swedish icebreaking offshore vessels, the offer also included a fourth slightly bigger and more powerful vessel, the US-flagged . In August 2018, Chantier Davie Canada was awarded a Can$610 million dollar contract for the acquisition and refitting of the three vessels. 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. Once retrofitted at Davie Shipbuilding, the vessels are expected to remain in service in the Canadian Coast Guard for 15 to 25 years. 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. CCGS
Captain Molly Kool was officially commissioned into Canadian Coast Guard fleet on 30 May 2019. ==References==