CCGS Jean Goodwill is 83.7 metres (274 ft 7 in) long overall and 77.77 metres (255 ft 2 in) between perpendiculars. Her hull has a beam of 18 metres (59 ft 1 in) and moulded depth of 8.5 metres (27 ft 11 in). At design draught, she draws 6.5 metres (21 ft 4 in) of water, but can be loaded to a maximum draught of 7.22 metres (23 ft 8 in) which corresponds to a displacement of 6,872 tons.^[5] Originally built to DNV ice class "ICE-10 Icebreaker", her hull structures and propulsion system will be upgraded to Polar Class 4 level^[9] and the vessel will be rated as Arctic Class 3 in Canadian service.^{[citation needed]} Originally she was served by a crew of 23, but this will be reduced to 19 (9 officers and 10 crew) when the vessel is commissioned by the Canadian Coast Guard. There are also 9 additional berths.^[2][8]

Jean Goodwill has four medium-speed diesel engines geared to two controllable pitch propellers in nozzles. She has two eight-cylinder MaK 8M32 and two six-cylinder MaK 6M32 diesel engines rated at 3,840 kW (5,150 hp) and 2,880 kW (3,860 hp) each. With a total propulsion power of 13,440 kW (18,020 hp), she can achieve a maximum speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) in open water and break 1-metre (3.3 ft) ice at a continuous speed of 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph). In addition, she has two bow thrusters (one fixed, one retractable and azimuthing) and one transverse stern thruster for maneuvering and dynamic positioning.^[2]

She has been employed supplying offshore arctic petroleum drilling expedition.

In February 2010 Balder Viking, Vidar Viking and Loke Viking were chartered by Edinburgh-based oil company Cairn Energy UK PLC for four months, starting in June 2010, for drilling operations in Baffin Bay.^[12][13]

In 2016, Chantier Davie Canada began offering Balder Viking and her sister ships as a replacement to the ageing Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers under the moniker Project Resolute. In addition to the three Swedish icebreaking offshore vessels, the offer also included a fourth slightly bigger and more powerful vessel, the US-flagged Aiviq.^[14] In August 2018, Chantier Davie Canada was awarded a Can$610 million dollar contract for the acquisition and refitting of the three vessels.^[15] On 10 August 2018, Viking Supply Ships announced the sale of its three vessels to Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada for a profit of $274 million.^[16][17] Once retrofitted at Davie Shipbuilding, the vessels are expected to remain in service in the Canadian Coast Guard for 15 to 25 years.^[18][19]

Balder Viking was renamed CCGS Jean Goodwill after Jean Cuthand Goodwill (1928–1997), a Canadian Cree nurse who, in 1954, became Saskatchewan's first Aboriginal woman to finish a nursing program.^[10] The vessel was delivered to the Canadian Coast Guard fleet in November 2020^[3] and officially commissioned in August 2022.^[4]