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11. Ship of the Month - cont'd. necessary repairs, and where three of her crew were treated for injuries sustained during the storm. OREFAX then set off again on her voyage, only to run hard aground on Sa turday, May 4 , about ten miles south of Manistique, Michigan, and two m i les east of Pointe aux Barques, in northern Lake Michigan. The ship stuck fast, and the U. S. Coast Guard cutter BRAMBLE was sent to the scene in case it might prove necessary to take the crew off OREFAX. The weather, however, remained calm and there was no danger to the crew of 21 on the ship. Late on May 5th, the big Roen tug JOHN PURVES arrived at the wreck from Sturgeon Bay, bringing a lightering barge with her. Part of the clay cargo was re moved and OREFAX finally was floated free several days after the accident. OREFAX eventually proceeded to Toronto and there she was observed on May 22, unloading her clay cargo into the Hall Corporation's Glasgow-built self unloader HALLFAX, which then was in only her second year of service. The operation was carried out in the Leslie Street slip off the Toronto turning basin at the east end of the ship channel. HALLFAX was moored on one side of the slip, and OREFAX was sprung out from the wall on the other side and moored on the outboard side of the idle steam tanker MAKAWELI, so that her boom would reach the deck of HALLFAX. Once the ship was unloaded, permanent hull repairs were put in hand. The motorvessel was back in service before long, but it was only three sea sons later that she was involved in yet another accident. At 3: 4 1 a.m. on Saturday, September 2 4 , 1966, OREFAX was upbound loaded in the Seaway when she struck the bank in the Wiley-Dondero Channel between Lights 4 0 and 4 2 . The vessel sustained a long gash in her hull below the waterline but, ap parently, her crew was not aware that the ship was rapidly taking water. When OREFAX reached the lower approach to the Iroquois Lock and was prepa ring to make the wall, it was noticed that she was riding much too low in the water, with her draft markings completely obscured. In fact, she was so low that the oil drum, which was hung over her fantail to serve as a garbage incinerator, had its lower end almost in the water. The lockmaster refused OREFAX passage, fearing that the vessel might sink whilst inside the chamber. The ship's own pumps were unable to make advances against the incoming water, and so a large pump was obtained ashore and lifted aboard OREFAX. With its assistance, the vessel's trim was restored. She proceeded to Prescott for inspection, and then went to Kingston for repairs to her hull plating. OREFAX once again was returned to service and ran for a few more years with out major accident. However, she got into trouble again during the autumn of 1970. On Tuesday, September 22, she was downbound in the upper St. Law rence River with a cargo of potash, bound for Prince Edward Island. When the ship was some three miles west of Brockville, an engine bearing became overheated and burst. OREFAX lost power and, in the swift current, swung to the south, out of the main channel, and came to rest close in to the shore of tiny Battersby Island. One crew member, on duty in the engineroom when the accident occurred, sustained a sprained wrist and was taken ashore for treatment at Brockville General Hospital. The lifeboats had been low ered as soon as OREFAX grounded, and nine crew members who were not imme diately required aboard were taken ashore to ensure their safety. It is interesting to note that the site where OREFAX grounded was only 300 feet from the point where the Yugoslav salty MORAVA had grounded back on June 23, 1966. The MORAVA's steering gear had failed, and she swung to port and put her bows into the trees on de Rottenberg Island. To make matters worse, the grounding of OREFAX was not the only major acci dent to beset the Hall Corp. during 1970. The fleet had an absolutely abys mal safety record during the 1960s, suffering a series of severe accidents involving vessel loss and loss of life, and the situation continued into the new decade. On July 14 , 1970, the lengthened canaller EASTCLIFFE HALL had struck bottom in the upper St. Lawrence after straying out of the chan