MV Oceanic Viking
Encyclopedia
The MV Oceanic Viking is an armed patrol vessel of the Australian Customs Service. Originally built in 1996 as the offshore supply vessel Viking Lady for Norwegian shipping company Eidesvik Shipping AS
Eidesvik Offshore
Eidesvik Offshore is a supply, subsea, seismic and cable-laying shipping company. The fleet consists of ten supply ships, both platform supply vessels and anchor handling tug supply vessels, five subsea vessels, five seismic vessels and one cable-laying ship. All the ships are orange in color, and...
, the ship was converted into a cable layer
Cable layer
A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electricity, and such. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaveshttp://atlantic-cable.com/Cableships/Monarch%284%29/ | History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea...
in 2000 and renamed Oceanic Viking. The ship was chartered to the Australian Customs Service through P&O Marine Services
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
in 2004.
Construction
The ship was built in 1996 for Norwegian shipping company Eidesvik Shipping ASEidesvik Offshore
Eidesvik Offshore is a supply, subsea, seismic and cable-laying shipping company. The fleet consists of ten supply ships, both platform supply vessels and anchor handling tug supply vessels, five subsea vessels, five seismic vessels and one cable-laying ship. All the ships are orange in color, and...
as an offshore supply vessel and named Viking Lady. The vessel is 105 metres (344.5 ft) long, and is over .
Eidesvik Shipping
In 2000, the ship was converted to a cable layerCable layer
A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electricity, and such. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaveshttp://atlantic-cable.com/Cableships/Monarch%284%29/ | History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea...
, renamed Oceanic Viking, and used for laying optic fiber cables between Europe and North America.
Australian Customs Service
In 2004, Oceanic Viking was converted to an armed patrol vessel and bareboat charterBareboat charter
A bareboat charter is an arrangement for the chartering or hiring of a ship or boat, whereby no crew or provisions are included as part of the agreement; instead, the people who rent the vessel from the owner are responsible for taking care of such things....
ed to P&O Marine Services, who will operate the ship for the Australian Customs Service
Australian Customs Service
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is the Australian Federal Government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border, facilitating the movement of legitimate international travellers and goods, and collecting border-related duties and...
. The vessel is primarily assigned to patrols of Australia's southern offshore territories for illegal fishers, particularly those seeking Patagonian toothfish
Patagonian toothfish
The Patagonian toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides , is a fish found in the cold, temperate waters of the southern Atlantic, southern Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans on seamounts and continental shelves around most sub-Antarctic islands.A close relative, the Antarctic toothfish , is found...
, but is also deployed on other border protection and patrol operations around Australia. While chartered, Oceanic Viking is flagged
Maritime flag
A maritime flag is a flag designated for use on ships, boats, and other watercraft. Naval flags are considered important at sea and the rules and regulations for the flying of flags are strictly enforced...
as an Australian vessel, and is operated by a 60-strong crew, including Customs and Fisheries
Australian Fisheries Management Authority
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority is the Australian Government statutory agency responsible for the management and sustainable use of fisheries resources and for combating illegal fishing activities in Australian waters .-History:The Australian Fisheries Management Authority was...
personnel, along with civilians. Oceanic Viking was fitted with two .50 calibre machine guns, making the vessel the first Australian-flagged ship to be armed in peacetime.
In early September 2005, Oceanic Viking intercepted a Cambodian vessel found poaching in the Southern Ocean. Later that month, the ship apprehended three Indonesian vessels illegally fishing near the Northern Territory's Wessel Islands
Wessel Islands
The Wessel Islands are a group of islands belonging to the Northern Territory of Australia. They extend in a more or less straight line from Buckingham Bay and the Napier Peninsula of Arnhem Land, and Elcho Island, to the northeast. Marchinbar Island is the largest of the group...
; one of the vessels failed to stop when ordered, and one of Oceanic Vikings machine guns was used to fire warning shot
Warning shot
A warning shot is a military term describing harmless artillery shot or gunshot intended to call attention and demand some action of compliance...
s.
In October 2006, Oceanic Viking traveled 1800 nautical miles (3,333.6 km) in eight days to answer a distress call from the Kerguelen Islands
Kerguelen Islands
The Kerguelen Islands , also known as the Desolation Islands, are a group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean constituting the emerged part of the otherwise submerged Kerguelen Plateau. The islands, along with Adélie Land, the Crozet Islands and the Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands are part of...
.
In December 2007, the Australian Government tasked the Oceanic Viking with monitoring Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese-flagged vessels involved in whaling
Whaling in Japan
Whaling in Japan may have begun as early as the 12th century. During the 20th century, Japan was heavily involved in commercial whaling until the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986...
in the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
. During the seven-week surveillance exercise, personnel aboard Oceanic Viking filmed Japanese whalers and their activities to produce evidence for possible legal action. To avoid the potential for armed conflict with the Japanese, the vessel's machine guns were secured below deck. During the deployment, two Sea Shepherd
Sea Shepherd
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is a non-profit, marine conservation organization based in Friday Harbor, Washington in the United States. The group uses direct action tactics to protect sealife...
protesters who boarded the whaling ship Yūshin Maru No. 2
Yushin Maru No. 2
) is a Japanese registered whaling harpoon ship that undertakes whaling operations in the Southern Ocean.- Sea Shepherd confrontations :On January 15, 2008, two members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, traveling on the MV Steve Irwin, boarded the Yushin Maru № 2 without permission...
were transferred to Oceanic Viking after being detained by the Japanese. The Australian government regarded the operation as successful, but it was criticised by some political commentators, such as Dennis Shanahan
Dennis Shanahan
Dennis Shanahan is a political editor of The Australian, a conservative newspaper in Australia. His son is author and journalist Brendan Shanahan.-References:...
, as not having been effective in countering Japanese whaling, and potentially harming Japanese-Australian relations
Japanese-Australian relations
Australia–Japan relations are generally warm, substantial and driven by mutual interests, and have expanded beyond strong economic and commercial links to other spheres, including culture, tourism, defense and scientific cooperation....
.
In October 2009, Oceanic Viking was involved in an operation to apprehend 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers and move them to an Australia-funded immigration detention centre on the Indonesian island of Bintan
Bintan
Bintan Island or Negeri Segantang Lada is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community....
for processing. The asylum seekers were taken to Indonesia but refused to disembark until 17 November, after a preferential processing deal was agreed upon. The 78 asylum seekers were transferred to Indonesian detention, and after a month, were determined to be refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
and resettled in several countries. While travelling back to Australia, Oceanic Viking intercepted a boat on 3 December carrying 53 suspected asylum seekers and four crew off the Ashmore Islands; the 50th asylum seeker vessel to be intercepted in Australian waters for the year 2009.