Unalaska, AK – The bumblebee-like icebreaker Tor Viking left Dutch Harbor this weekend, and it's now en route to Canada to fetch Shell Oil's Kulluk mobile drilling rig.

The yellow and black vessel had been docked in Dutch Harbor for two weeks, and it belongs to the Norwegian company Trans Viking. Shell has chartered it from May to October; the company previously used it in 2007.

Curtis Smith, a Shell spokesperson, says that the vessel wasn't necessarily going to be used for exploration and drilling this year - and now, given the federal moratorium on Arctic drilling it definitely won't.

"The Tor Viking actually was not necessarily related to our 2010 aspirations, which were obviously canceled when the president suspended arctic drilling activities," Smith says.

Instead the Tor Viking will be used to bring the Kulluk rig to Dutch Harbor from McKinley Bay in Canada. Then, it will be staged here while modifications are made to it.

Smith says that the Tor Viking will likely be used in coming months - and years.

"It is a vessel that we have used in the past, and it has been part of our operational plan for at least the past two years -- it's a good fit for Shell's operations," he says. It's unfortunate that it's not assisting this year in a drilling operation, but we think it's very important that we have the Kulluk -- potentially a second drill rig -- in the theatre for future operations."

The Tor Viking should be back in Dutch Harbor, along with the Kulluk, in early September.