One of the two people seriously injured when their recreational vehicle crashed into a Quebec ferry has died.

The Surete du Quebec said 40-year-old Eric Belec wasn't able to stop the RV, which careened down an embankment and off a launch ramp before crashing in a heap on the ferry that was just pulling away from the dock in Tadoussac, Que.

Belec died in hospital Monday evening. A 40-year-old female passenger remained in hospital in critical condition Tuesday morning.

The accident at the Tadoussac pier, about 250 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, cancelled ferry crossings to Baie-Sainte-Catherine for several hours before service resumed late Monday evening with a single ferry.

Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu of the Quebec provincial police said mechanical issues with the RV were likely to blame for the crash.

The year-round service is in operation 24 hours a day to ferry vehicle traffic across the Saguenay River.