Coast Guard
Tall Viking ship won't reach Duluth, Minnesota
Stars and Stripes
August 5, 2016
The Draken Harald Harfagre departs Bay City on the Saginaw River on Wednesday, July 19, 2016. (Jacob Hamilton/The Bay City Times-MLive.com via AP)
DULUTH, Minn. — The replica Norwegian Viking ship won't make it any farther than Green Bay, Wisconsin this summer. The ship was to be part of Tall Ships Duluth later this month. But, Draken Harald Harfagre says it's been unable to raise the money needed to complete the expedition in Duluth.
After this weekend's event in Green Bay, the ship will leave the Great Lakes.
The organization behind the expedition, Viking Kings, discovered after they reached the Great Lakes that they were not exempt from a requirement to hire U.S. pilots as they had originally believed. The U.S.Coast Guard said it lacked the authority to waive the fees.
WDIO-TV says that despite fundraising efforts and a reduced fee, Viking Kings says it wasn't able to come up with the $250,000 needed to complete the Great Lakes journey.