MV Oceanic Viking
 MV Oceanic Viking
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia | |
| Name | MV Oceanic Viking |
| Owner | Eidesvik Shipping AS |
| Operator | P&O Marine Services/Australian Customs Service |
| Builder | Flekkefjord Slipp & Maskinfabrikk |
| Launched | 1996 |
| Notes | Armed with 2 × .50 caliber machine guns |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | DnV + 1A1 Cable Laying Vessel |
| Tonnage | 9,075 GRT GRT uses unsupported parameter (help) |
| Length | 105.6 metres (346 ft) |
| Beam | 22 metres (72 ft) |
| Draught | 6.83 metres (22.4 ft) |
| Propulsion | 2 x 3,560 kW at 660 rpm |
| Speed | 17 knots (31 km/h) |
| Complement | Up to 60 |
| Notes | Former offshore oil pipeline layer and cable layer |
The MV Oceanic Viking is an armed patrol vessel of the Australian Customs Service. It is owned by Norwegian shipping company Eidesvik Shipping AS and contracted to the Australian Customs Service through P&O Marine Services.
Construction
It was built in 1996 as an offshore supply vessel and named Viking Lady. In 2000, the ship was converted to a cable layer, renamed Oceanic Viking, and used for laying optic fiber cables between Europe and North America.[2][3]
Reassignment
In 2004, the Oceanic Viking was converted to an armed patrol vessel and chartered to the Australian Customs Service.[4][5]
The vessel was fitted with two deck-mounted .50 caliber machine guns, and as a result became the first civilian ship in Australia to carry mounted weapons in peacetime. It is Australian-flagged and operated by a civilian crew including armed Customs officers and fisheries officers from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.
The vessel conducts Customs and Fisheries patrols in the Southern Ocean and the Australian territories of Ashmore and Cartier Islands and Heard Island and McDonald Islands.
Incidents
September 2005
In September 2005, Customs officers aboard the Oceanic Viking fired the deck-mounted machine guns at an Indonesian fishing vessels off the Northern Territory.[6]
October 2006
In October 2006, the Oceanic Viking traveled 1,800 nautical miles (3,300 km) in 8 days to answer a distress call from the Kerguelen Islands.[7]
December 2007
In December 2007, the Australian Government tasked the Oceanic Viking with monitoring Japanese-flagged vessels involved in whaling in the Southern Ocean.[8] During this surveillance exercise, the vessel's deck-mounted guns were removed and secured below deck[9] in an effort to avoid any form of armed conflict. During the deployment, the vessel's crew filmed Japanese whalers and their activities. Their aim was to produce evidence for possible use in future legal action.[10]. The Government regarded the operation as successful,[11] but it was criticised by some political commentators, such as Dennis Shanahan, as not having been effective in countering Japanese whaling. It was also suggested that the operation may have harmed Japanese-Australian relations.[12]
January 2008
On January 15, 2008, after throwing packages of malodorous acid onto the decks and attempting to entangle a hunting boat's propeller, two Sea Shepherd members boarded the Japanese whaling vessel Yushin Maru No. 2. Paul Watson stated that it was his intention to create an international incident through the boarding and expected detainment. They later stated that their intent had been to present a protest to its captain. Benjamin Potts, a 28-year-old cook from Sydney, Australia, and Giles Lane, a 35-year-old engineer from Leeds, United Kingdom, were detained by crew of the Yushin Maru No. 2.
On January 17, the Australian customs ship MV Oceanic Viking started preparation to transfer the two men held on the whaling vessel. On the morning of January 18, the two men were safely transferred to the MV Oceanic Viking. After an investigation by the Australian Federal Police, no criminal action was taken against the intruders.
October 2009
In October 2009, the 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[13]. The asylum seekers were taken to Indonesia where the asylum seekers refused to disembark. The asylum seekers remained on the Oceanic Viking. (Note: this case is ongoing - unresolved as at 11 Nov 2009)
References
- ^ Oceanic Viking Datasheet
- ^ "Conversion of the Supply Boat Viking Lady to the trans-ocean Fibre Optic Cable Layer Oceanic Viking".
- ^ "Subsea Telecom Notebook, January/February 2001".
- ^ "Toothfish pirates to face armed patrols". The Age. 19 November 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
- ^ "Oceanic Viking secures bareboat charter from Australia". 1 October 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
- ^ "Warning shots fired at fishing boat". The Age. 28 September 2005. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
- ^ "Customs ship in eight-day rescue". The Courier Mail. 20 October 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
- ^ "Armed vessel to monitor whalers". Herald Sun. 18 December 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
- ^ "Unarmed Australians to watch whaling". Herald Sun. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
- ^ "Oceanic Viking returning to port". The Age. 27 February 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- ^ "Oceanic Viking Returns to Australia" (Press release). The Hon. Bob Debus, Minister for Home Affairs. 27 February 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- ^ Shanahan, Dennis (27 June 2008). "Real Dog of a Policy". Opinion. The Australian. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- ^ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/towing-boats-back-is-humane-rudd/story-e6freuzr-1225790160208