Sarah Desgagnés (C832488) is a double-hulled Type II product tanker. It was built by the Gisan Shipyard at Tuzla, Turkey, as Besiktas Greenland in 2007. The ship has an overall length of 483 feet, 11 inches, a beam of 73 feet 6 inches and a molded depth of 41 feet, 4 inches. Tonnage is calculated at 11,711 gross and 6,026 net registered tons.

A 7M43 MAK/Caterpillar diesel engine develops 9,517 brake horsepower and provides a service speed of 14.5 knots. Electrical power is supplied by four 590 kilowatt diesel generators and one 1,250 shaft alternator. An 800 horsepower bow thruster is valuable in maneuvering the ship.

Sarah Desgagnés can lift 18,000 metric tons of cargo at a mid-summer draft of 31 feet, 2 inches. It consumes about 24 metric tons of fuel per day under a normal full load. The ship is certified for world-wide trading and is classed as BV Ice Class 1A ESP + AUT UMS – double hull Type II oil / chemical tanker. There are 14 cargo tanks with a total capacity of 20,617 cubic metres and has a maximum discharge rate of 2,400 cubic metres per hour.

The $40 million ship was acquired by Desgagnés in 2008 and arrived at Montreal for the first time on May 29. It was christened Sarah Desgagnés there on June 13, 2008. It has been active along the St. Lawrence River, east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, around Atlantic Canada and into the Great Lakes. The ship has frequently loaded at the Ultramar Refinery at St. Romauld. Quebec. It also saw international service to Porvoo, Finland, in 2009 as well as down the Atlantic seaboard to New York and on to Freeport, Bahamas.

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