As TradeWinds has reported, the US Maritime Administration (Marad) is considering a request to allow the Viking Supply Ships’ 18,300-bhp ice-breaking AHTS Tor Viking II (built 2000) to operate Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea as part of Shell’s drilling campaign in the US waters of the Arctic.
But the source tells TradeWinds that the request is seeking to take advantage provisions that allow foreign-flagged AHTS units to operate on the US-controlled waters of the outer continental shelf if no other vessels that meet the need are available.
The
