Desgagnés duo

 When the Argentia Desgagnés was here in early May (see May 11) I titled the post "Seeing Double" because it was a rare event to see two Desgagnés ships in port at the same time. (Fleet mate Marcellin Desgagnés was the other ship.)

The rare event has occurred again as the Argentia Desgagnés, which arrived yesterday, was joined today by the Acadia Desgagnés.

The Argentia Desgagnés sailed from Pier 9C on May 16, but did not go far. It only went to an offshore anchorage, off Cow Bay, a little to the east of the usual offshore anchorages. Its AIS signal indicated "military exercises". (The former naval gunnery firing range at nearby Osborne Head, is now used for naval electronics testing. such as radar.) 

The ship has returned to anchor inside the harbour.

The ship reflagged from Barbados to Canada during its previous visit and is due to sail tomorrow.
 

 The other Desgagnés visitor is today's arrival (June 1) the Acadia Desgagnés, which tied up at Pier 9B. It was flagged out to Barbados on October 1, 2014 and has been working internationally. It was reported in Incheon, South Korea March 22, then Balboa, Panama May 12, Corpus Christi, TX, May 19 to 22 and Brownsville,TX, May 21 to 22. (It may also need to undergo a Canadian Food Inspection Agency examination before proceeding on to other Canadian ports.)

 

It is in port to shift back to Canadian flag, and to embark a Canadian crew. This afernoon a truck arrived with two cargo grab buckets of 8 cubic meters capacity each. It will also be entering the salt trade out of Pugwash, NS.

 Acadia Desgagnés was built in 2013 by Shandong Baibuting Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Rongcheng, China. It was ordered as Montelena, but the name was changed during construction to BBT Ocean but was changed again before it was launched as Sider Tis. Transport Desgagnés took delivery and renamed the ship in Ravenna, Italy in March 2017 and it arrived in Shelburne, NS April 30, 2017. It was then refitted for Canadian service and registered in St.John's, NL, May 12, 2017. The ship registers 7875 grt, 10,936 dwt (11,353 at summer draft of 8.46m) with box shaped holds and a pair of cranes rated at 40 tonnes SWL. It can carry break bulk or bulk cargoes and is rated for containers totalling 164 TEU on deck.

The ship is not normally intended for northern supply work and has Lloyd's lowest ice class of 1D. However this year it is due to make one northern voyage for Desgagnés Transarctik sailing from Cote-Ste-Catherine, QC on August 22 for Deception Bay September 2 to 4 and Iqaluit September 6 to 9 and returning to Cote-Ste-Catherine September 16. 

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Acadia Desgagnés arrives for reflagging

The general cargo ship Acadia Desgagnés arrived at pier 25 this morning to be reflagged back to Canada after spending the winter flying the Barbados flag. Transport Desgagnés acquired the ship a year ago with the intention to operate it for part of the year in Canadian waters and to trade internationally the rest of the year. This has been a successful pattern for the company with half a dozen of its ships earning their keep elsewhere in winter, but returning to home waters for the summer and into the autumn. (Fleet mate Rosaire A. Desgagnés arrived in Halifax May 2, 2018 for its reflagging back to Canada.)

Acadia Desgagnés was built in 2013 by Shandong Baibuting in Rongcheng, China. It was ordered as Montelena, but the name was changed during construction to BBT Ocean but was changed again before it was launched as Sider Tis. It initially flew the flag of Panama but that was changed to Malta in 2014. Transport Desgagnés took delivery and renamed the ship in Ravenna, Italy in March 2017 and it arrived in Shelburne, NS April 30, 2017. It was then refitted for Canadian service and registered in St.John's, NL, May 12, 2017. It is smaller than Desgagnés' northern supply ships at 7875 grt, 10,936 dwt (11,353 at summer draft of 8.46m) but has box shaped holds and a pair of cranes rated at 40 tonnes. It can carry container, break bulk or bulk cargoes.It is rated as ice class 1D by Lloyd's which is the lowest ice class rating.

Desgagnés also bought the Argentia Desgagnés last year and it arrived in Halifax June 19, 2017 to be reflagged from Turkey. The forner Ofmar is a 6369 grt, 8950 dwt ship of the same type, although its 35 tonne cranes are mounted on the ship's centre line. Both ship are registered in Newfoundland, since they are intended for trade on the east coast and into the Lakes, rather than the traditional Desgagnés northern supply work. They will carry salt, minerals, coal, grain and similar bulk cargoes replacing the two older ships Amélia Desgagnés and Mélissa Desgagnés. 


Their area of trade explains their non-typical names - most Desgagnés ships are named for people. (The first names - usually women's names, and not necessarily members of the Desgagnés family - are then compounded with the Desgagnés family name. A similar system of naming is used by Moran Towing in the US. These names will drive genealogists crazy in coming years, since there are no actual people with these fabricated names.)

Argentia Desgagnès - another new Canadian

Transport Desgagnés Inc of Quebec has been on a major buying spree this year, acquiring cargo ships and taking delivery of a new tanker *- the first of several new builds.

Today the latest cargo acquisition arrived in Halifax for reflagging. Argentia Desgagnés, built in 2007 by Ustaoglu Yat KO of Eregli, Turkey is the former Turkish flag Ofmar. A general cargo / bulker of 6369 grt, 8950 dwt, it is fitted with two cranes and clamshell grabs and will replace the veteran Amélia Desgagnés.

The new ship was reflagged as of today and its port of registry is now St.John's, NL.  It was registered in Barbados for the delivery trip from Tuzla, Turkey, where it received a new paint job, including the distinctive Desgagnés yellow stripe.

The new port of registry is unusual for Desgagnés, but since the ship will be running mostly in eastern Canada (as its new name suggests) it does make sense.

Its predecessor, Amélia Desgagnées was familiar sight in the Atlantic Canada for many years. Built by Collingwood Shipyards in 1976 as Soodoc for N.M.Paterson, its modest size of 4490 grt, 7250 dwt allowed it access to many smaller ports. However it also called in Halifax with grain.  Soon after it was built it was fitted with four 10 ton cranes in pairs, allowing it to handle a variety of bulk cargoes such as salt. Transport Desgagnés acquired and renamed the ship in 1990.

Amélia Desgagnés, in ballast, drops anchor approaching Pugwash, NS to load a cargo of salt.

Amélia Desgagnés arriving in Halifax with a small cargo of grain.

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* The company's newest tanker, Damia Desgagnés, ran into a spot of trouble Friday last week when it had a mechanical problem and ran aground at Mariatown, ON, near Iroquois, on the St.Lawrence Seaway. Traffic in the busy waterway was held up for a day until the ship was freed Saturday by two tugs. It was escorted to Johnstown, ON for survey. The new dual fuel ship was on its first trip up the Seaway bound for Nanticoke, ON,  with a cargo of heavy fuel.

There has been no report yet on the extent of damage.  

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