Claude A. Desgagnes was added to the fleet in July 2012. It had been built by Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering Co. Ltd., at Taizhou, China in 2011 and first sailed as Elsborg under Panamanian registry.

The 454′ 5″ long by 68′ 11″ wide cargo carrier was registered at 9,627 gross tons and able to carry 12,767 tons deadweight. The new ship is equipped with twin 150 metric ton lift deck cranes. It has a 7,345 bhp diesel engine that allows a service speed of 15.5 knots.

Originally a Danish owned cargo carrier, it was completed in July 2011 for NPC 1 Singapore Pte. Ltd., and is a sister-ship to Zélada Desgagnés and Sedna Desgagnés.

The vessel was rechristened at Quebéc City on July 20, 2012. It was acquired to serve the Eastern Canadian Arctic and the international market with occasional voyages into the Great Lakes.

The rechristening ceremony was also marked by transferring the ship to the Canadian flag, for its operations in Canadian waters. Mr. Louis-Marie Beaulieu, President and CEO and majority shareholder of Desgagnés, stated at the time that “it was a matter of great pride for the company to register this vessel, which will be mainly used for voyages in Nunavut and Nunavik, under the Canadian flag.”

The ship was christened Claude A. Desgagnes in honour of Captain Claude Desgagnés, who worked more than 50 years in the company, first as captain and later as a manager in both the marine transportation and stevedoring sectors. Significantly, he is also the only other shareholder of Desgagnés, and his four children are employed by the company.

Claude A. Desgagnés entered the Seaway on Sept. 19, 2012, for the first time but only went as far as Cote Ste. Catherine. After being placed under the flag of Barbados, the ship entered the Great Lakes for the first time passing upbound at St. Lambert on Nov. 6, 2012, enroute from Becancour, QC to Cleveland, OH.
During another trip downbound on Nov. 5, 2013, the ship lost power at the Iroquois Lock, hit a wall and punched a hole in the hull. Seaway traffic was delayed and the ship was finally cleared to depart heading for inspection and eventual repairs.

Adapted with permission from “The Desgagnes Fleet” by Buck Longhurst, Mac Mackay, Skip Gillham