Tor Viking makes for Alaska

In April, Tor Viking, a KMAR 808 AHTS, called at Kristiansand, having completed icebreaking services in the Baltic over the winter. Following a period of maintenance at Øresundsvarvet, in Landskrona, Sweden, the vessel left the North Sea for work in Alaska until the end of this year.

Shell Offshore is due to start drilling activity in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, later this year, and Trans Viking has been awarded a contract for the combined icebreaker and anchor handler to support Shell.

The vessel will be carrying out general rig and ice support work, and will work together with Finstaship’s icebreaker Fennica. Shell will utilise the two vessels for towing oil rigs, anchoring and maintenance work. They will also safeguard the rigs during drilling operations, managing ice by keeping ice floes away in the summer months.

Having departed from Stavanger in Norway, the transit time to the Beaufort Sea – via the Panama Canal – is estimated to be 45 days.OSJ