The MV Camilla Desgagnés is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 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

Canadian Coast Guard

The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...

 and the Canadian Forces

Canadian Forces Air Command

The Royal Canadian Air Force , formerly Canadian Forces Air Command, is one of three environmental commands of 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

National Geographic Channel

National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...

 documentary series Trapped.

Titan Salvage partnered with International Transport Contractors to salvage

Marine salvage

Marine salvage is the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or other property from peril. Salvage encompasses rescue towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship...

 Camilla. ITC tugboat Kigoria and Secunda Marine tugboat Ryan Leet

Ryan Leet

The Ryan Leet is an ocean-going salvage tug.She is owned and operated by Secunda Marine Services, based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.She was launched in 1978 and was previously known as the Abeille Provence and Salvor Commander....

 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

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...

 for delivery to its owners.

The owners sold the vessel at that time to Groupe Desgagnés of Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 who renamed her MV Camilla Desgagnés.

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

Port Elizabeth, New Jersey

Port Elizabeth is an unincorporated area within Maurice River Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 08348....

 where it was safely returned to the owners on June 10, 2005.

2008 transit of the Northwest Passage

MV Camilla Desgagnés became the first commercial vessel to transit the Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...

 in September 2008

On November 28, 2008, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 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

Arctic Cooperative

Arctic Co-operatives Limited is a cooperative federation owned and controlled by 32 community-based cooperative business enterprises located in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and northern Manitoba, Canada...

, is part of Nunavut Sealift and Supply Incorporated (NSSI), transported cargo from Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 to the hamlets of Cambridge Bay

Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

Cambridge Bay, named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, is a hamlet located in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada...

, Kugluktuk

Kugluktuk, Nunavut

Kugluktuk is a hamlet located at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island...

, Gjoa Haven

Gjoa Haven, Nunavut

Gjoa Haven is a hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle, located in the Kitikmeot Region, northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It is the only settlement on King William Island...

 and Taloyoak

Taloyoak, Nunavut

Taloyoak or Talurjuaq is located on the Boothia Peninsula, Kitikmeot, in Canada's Nunavut Territory. The community is served only by air and by annual supply sealift. Taloyoak may mean "large blind", referring to a stone caribou blind or a screen used for caribou hunting...

. 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. Although sealift

Sealift

Sealift is a term used predominantly in military logistics and refers to the use of cargo ships for the deployment of military assets, such as weaponry, vehicles, military personnel, and supplies...

 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

Northern Transportation Company Limited

Northern Transportation Company Limited is a marine transportation company in the Canadian and American Arctic owned by Norterra, a holding company jointly owned by the Inuvialuit of the Northwest Territories and the Inuit of Nunavut...

 (NTCL) from Hay River

Hay River, Northwest Territories

Hay River , known as "the Hub of the North," is a town in the Northwest Territories, Canada, located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, at the mouth of the Hay River. The town is separated into two sections, a new town and an old town with the Hay River Airport between them...

. The eastern portion by NNSI and NTCL from Churchill

Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" that has helped its growing tourism industry.-History:A variety of nomadic...

and Montreal.