MV Camilla Desgagnés
| 300px A photo taken of the abandoned MV Camilla about 200 miles off Newfoundland as it was taken in tow. | |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Camilla Desgagnés |
| Owner: | Desgagnés Transarctik Inc[1] |
| Operator: | Groupe Desgagnés |
| Laid down: | 1982[2] |
| Renamed: | Camilla |
| Status: | in service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Lloyd's + 100 A 1[2] |
| Length: | 133.00m[2] |
| Beam: | 20.06 m[2] |
| Draught: | 6.865 m[2] |
| Ice class: | 1A Super[2] |
The MV Camilla Desgagnés is a Canadian cargo vessel that has operated since 1982 in the waters of eastern and Arctic Canada.
Prior to 2003 she was known simply as MV Camilla.
2003 salvage
Camilla was abandoned after her 17 person crew was rescued from the ship by the Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian Forces in January 2003 off Newfoundland following extreme weather. This rescue became the subject of an installment of the 2007 National Geographic Channel documentary series Trapped.
Titan Salvage partnered with International Transport Contractors to salvage Camilla. ITC tugboat Kigoria and Secunda Marine tugboat Ryan Leet secured the vessel on January 30, 2003 while Camilla was heeling 20 degrees to port and rolling 40 degrees to port. The vessel was towed to sheltered waters on the Newfoundland coast before being moved to St. John's for delivery to its owners.
The owners sold the vessel at that time to Groupe Desgagnés of Quebec who renamed her MV Camilla Desgagnés.[3]
2005 fire
On June 8, 2005 the vessel reported an engine room fire off New York City. Disabled, the owners contracted Titan Salvage who had originally salvaged the vessel in 2003. The vessel's crew contained the fire and Titan Salvage sub-contracted McAllister Towing to move the Camilla Desgagnés to Port Elizabeth, New Jersey where it was safely returned to the owners on June 10, 2005.[4]
2008 transit of the Northwest Passage
MV Camilla Desgagnés became the first commercial vessel to transit the Northwest Passage in September 2008[5][1]
On November 28, 2008, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Canadian Coast Guard confirmed the first commercial ship sailed through the Northwest Passage. In September 2008, the MV Camilla Desgagnés, owned by Desgagnés Transarctik Inc. and, along with the Arctic Cooperative, is part of Nunavut Sealift and Supply Incorporated (NSSI),[5] transported cargo from Montreal to the hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak. A member of the crew is reported to have claimed that "there was no ice whatsoever". Shipping from the east is to resume in the fall of 2009.[1] Although sealift is an annual feature of the Canadian Arctic this is the first time that the western communities have been serviced from the east. The western portion of the Canadian Arctic is normally supplied by Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) from Hay River. The eastern portion by NNSI and NTCL from Churchill and Montreal.[6][7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1st commercial ship sails through Northwest Passage, November 28, 2008, last updated 4:50 pm CT
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 U-Ship Maritime Services Inc. Page on MV Camilla Desgagnés, date accessed 30 Nov 2008
- ↑ http://www.itctowage.com/pdf/ITCNW8.pdf
- ↑ http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMV/2005jul0132.html
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Meet your Nunavut Carrier
- ↑ NTCL
- ↑ Ports served
