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Marine News - c o n t .d 4. Sa g u e n a y River, we can c o n f i r m that the tanker now is owned by T a t t o n Inc., and o p e ra te d by Real S h i p p i n g C o m p a n y Ltd. Both are N i g e r i a n Co r porations, and the ship has been o p e r a t i n g in N i g e r i a n waters. * * * * * STONEFAX AGAIN Our M a r c h fe atu re on the s e l f - u n l o a d i n g steamer S T O N E F A X appears to have been po pul ar w ith our members, from a number of w h o m we have h e a r d with comments. W i t h o u t doubt, the most i m portant contact has been from member Capt. Ross M. MacDonald, of Consecon, Ontario, who sailed in S T O N E F A X from 1961 until 1969, four years as first mate and four years as master. He recalls that her u n l o a d i n g boom then was 225 feet in length, so either it was a new bo o m after the 1940 accident, or else it was the old b oom l e n g t h ened. The spear pole w hich she ca rried in her latter years came to her from the Reoch T r a n s p o r t s Ltd. canal steamer WILLOWDALE, (a) T A L A R A L I T E (47), (b) IM PER IAL M I D L A N D (53), w h i c h was cut up for scrap in the To ronto Turning Basin du ri ng the autumn of 1963. Capt. M a c D o n a l d recalls that, in the spring of 1961 (her second year of A l gon qu in C o r p o r a t i o n ownership), S T O N E F A X was caught in a storm wh i l s t u n loading stone at the St. L a w rence Cement plant at Clarkson. She d a m a g e d her port side from No. 1 to No. 4 hold so badly that she had to have a new side put in her at Port Weller Dry Docks. Ross M a c D o n a l d was master of STONEFAX at the time of her 1966 a l t e r c a t i o n w it h AR TH UR STOVE, and he is able to give us a better account of the c o l l i sion than we were able to glean from the press reports. Perhaps most i m p o r tantly, he advises that the col l i s i o n did not occur b e t w e e n A l l a n b u r g and Port Robinson, but rather above (or to the south) of Bridge 12 at Port Robinson. As well, he confirms that the accident h a p p e n e d at 4 : 12 a . m. on Oc to be r 14, 1966, and not as reported in the press. He thought that it had oc c ur re d at 4 : 05 a. m., but "in the court case it was brought out that our clock was not accurate". The press report cont a i n i n g watchman Ray Gauth i e r ' s stat ement was not a c c u rate. In ste ad of giving a h a r d - t o - s t a r b o a r d helm order as Ga uthier al l e g e d l y rememb ere d, Capt. M a c D o n a l d confirms that he ordered the wheel hard to port, and full ah ead on the engines, in an effort to bring the ship p a r allel with the STOVE, but that his order came too late to avoid the collision. "The No. 1 co mp ar t m e n t was the only one holed, as the STOVE scraped along the side fur ther aft. We tried to tie to the bollards on the west side below Bridge 12, but the water was going to the starboard side and I thought we were going to capsize, so I wo r k e d the ship over to the east side to get her on the bo t t o m to strai g h t e n up, w h i c h we did well b elow the bridge. The stern went across the canal, and I orde r e d the stern line to be dragge d ashore and tied to a tree, w hich brought us back p a r allel to the canal, and that is where she settled on the b o t t o m . " So that is the way it was, direct from the person who is best q u a l i f i e d to tell us about the incident. I n t e r e s t i n g l y enough, Ross M a c D o n a l d was aboard L A W R E N C E C L I F F E HALL (II) at Quebec City on May 31, 1971, whe n S T O N E F A X and A L E X A N D E R LE S L I E were towed out en route to the b r e akers at Santander, Spain. We ex te nd sincere thanks for his assistance w i t h the S T O N E F A X story. * * * * * A R E M I N D E R A BOUT THE M A Y DINNER Have you r e s e r v e d your tickets to the Annual Dinner M e e t i n g whi ch will be held ab oar d J A D R A N on May 9th? Space is limited and it has been selling rapidly. Please contact our Chief Purser (address on the Front Page) at your e ar lie st c o n v e n i e n c e to ensure a reservation. * * * * *