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" The world&amp;#039;s largest Viking ship has encountered an unexpected enemy: American bureaucracy.  The Draken Harald H\u00E5rfagre, which began sailing in 2012, is 115 feet from stem to stern, 26-feet wide, has a 2,798-square foot silk sail, and a Douglas fir mast 79-feet tall. Built with over 10,000 nails and detailed ornamentation, the Harald H\u00E5rfagre, named after the first king of Norway, travels the world reminding everyone how epic the ancient Vikings were. It was funded by Sigurd Aase, a Norwegian oil and gas tycoon.            Draken and the skyscrapers of Detroit. Thanks for the photo Mark McClelland! A photo posted by Draken Harald H\u00E5rfagre (@drakenharaldharfagre) on Jul 13, 2016 at 1:59pm PDT     However, Aase&amp;#039;s ship has hit an unexpected dilemma in America. At first glance, the Tall Ships Duluth festival would be a perfect fit for the Harald H\u00E5rfagre. A &amp;quot;rare chance to catch a glimpse, step aboard, and even set sail on some of the grandest ships of yore,&amp;quot; Tall Ships celebrates nautical traditions in the Great Lakes partially located on the Canadian-American border. When the H\u00E5rfagre crossed the American border for the festival it was approached by the Coast Guard, which informed the team that it needed a ship&amp;#039;s pilot. The ship, of course, had a captain, but there&amp;#039;s a large difference a captain and a pilot. The Coast Guard says the H\u00E5rfagre was notified of the need for a pilot last February.  The question comes down to if the Harald H\u00E5rfagre is engaged in commerce. Because the H\u00E5rfagre charges admission and takes tickets, the Coast Guard has ruled that it&amp;#039;s a business ship and requires a pilot. Sarah Blank, spokeswoman for the H\u00E5rfagre, disagrees. &amp;quot;For us to have tickets, admissions or appearances, it&amp;#039;s not a commercial interest,&amp;quot; she told MLive. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s because otherwise, we are not able to fund our expedition at all.&amp;quot; A statement released on the ship&amp;#039;s website refers to H\u00E5rfagre as a &amp;quot;non-profit sail training vessel.&amp;quot;  A ship&amp;#039;s pilot is a nice profession, with pilots typically charging $400 per hour. It&amp;#039;s estimated that the Harald H\u00E5rfagre would need $400,000 to cover its entire time in the Great Lakes. &amp;quot;The fees are just not possible for a project like Draken Harald H\u00E5rfagre to pay,&amp;quot; Aase, the chariman of Crudecorp, said in a statement. Although it is currently docked in Bay City, Michigan, if nothing changes the ship plans to turn around and head back to Norway. However, the Viking ship has found some vocal fans. A Change.org petition asking that the Harald H\u00E5rfagre by allowed an exemption from the pilotage fees has reached over 10,00 signatures.  Source: Star-Tribune "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/news/a21836/viking-ship-might-be-defeated-by-us-coast-guard/>