Italian Palumbo Shipyard, based in Naples, has delivered the passenger-vehicle-container[ds_preview] carrier »Bella Desgagnés« to its Canadian owner Groupe Desgagnés. The vessel was built to 60 % by the Croatian shipyard Brodogradi-liste Kraljevica that went bankrupt. Some of the biggest shipyards in the Mediterranean were called to bid for the tender regarding her completion. The »Bella Desgagnés«, 97.1 m long and 19.35 m wide (6.588 gt), can carry 125 TEU and accommodate 381 passengers with her aircraft-type seats, additionally she offers a total of 160 berths in 63 cabins.
The ship has four diesel-electric Wärtsilä engines which power two Koncar electric motors, giving propulsion to two azimuthal propellers. These propellers work together with two bow thrusters which contribute to give the vessel an almost unlimited manoeuvrability. Each system can be managed in automatic or semi-automatic mode with the dynamic positioning system (class AM) or with the C Joy. A 30 t Liebherr crane makes the ship independent in cargo operations. The vessel will serve twelve ports on the Anticosti Island and the Lower North Shore at the St. Lawrence Gulf.
