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3. Marine News - cont'd. The 1991 n a v i g a t i o n season has been ma rr ed by yet another major accident, this one i n vo lv in g the steamer BEECHGLEN, (a) CHARLES M. SCHWAB (75), (b) PIE RS ON D A UG HT ER S (82), owned by P. & H. Ship pin g Di vi si on of Parr ish & H ei mb e c k e r Limited. At 1 : 00 a. m. on April 29, BE E C H G L E N arrived at the elev ato r at Cardinal, Ontario, and began to unl oad her cargo of corn. With the stern por ti on of the ship unloaded, the elev ato r leg was working on the third (or centre) hold when, at 4 : 00 a. m. on April 30, BEECHGL EN' s hull buc kle d some thirty feet aft of the plims oll mark. The hull r ep or te dl y cracked up from the bottom to wi t h i n about seven feet of the deck. On her first job since joining the McKeil Marine fleet, the lighter D. C. EVEREST was hu r r i e d l y towed to the scene by the tugs STORMONT and TRAVELER. She took a full load of corn out of B E E CH GL EN and then was towed to the elev ato r at Prescott, which also was the de s t i n a t i o n of trucks wh ich were su ct io n- l o a d e d with part of the dam ag ed ship's cargo. The remai nde r of the corn was u n l o a d e d by the Card in al elevator direct from BEECHGLEN, and at last report it was inte nd ed that the 68 -y ea r- ol d steamer would be taken (presum ab ly under tow) to Port Weller for survey of the damages susta ine d in the bizarre incident. In recent issues, we have fo llowed the fortunes of the ven er ab le dredge and former canal steamer CHARLES R. HUNTLEY, wh ich was ac qu ir ed in the autumn of 1989 by A l e x a n d e r Hume Inc., of Etobicoke. The ship wor ked at Saint John, New Brunswick, late in 1989, and then wi nt er ed at Shelburne, Nova Scotia. She was busy in the N or th Tr averse of the lower St. Lawrence River in the summer of 1990 and then headed east again, sus ta in in g damage in a late autumn storm off Hal if ax whilst en route to Saint John. The March 25, 1991, issue of "The Evening T i m e s - G l o b e ", Saint John, repo rte d that the H U NT LE Y was lying in Saint John at the Pu gsley North Te rm ina l and was under arrest, with her officers and crew stranded aboard. The newsp ape r stated that do cuments filed in the Federal Court of Canada on Ma rch 4 by Cus tom F abr ica to rs and Machinists, a J. D. Irving division, claimed $ 4 0 , 1 4 4 . 81 for services, labour and mate ri al s prov ide d to the ship at Saint John from D e c em be r to March, and put a claim on the vessel itself to satisfy the debt. The ne w s p a p e r quoted a source at Public Works Canada as having stated that the H U N T L E Y had a $1 m i l l i o n contract to dredge 1 8 8 , 000 square metres in C o u rt e n a y Bay and the main harbour channel, but that the contract had expi re d without the work being completed. Anot he r vessel in trouble at Saint John during the winter months was the former lake package freighter WOODLANDS, wh ich was sold early this year and r e - r e g i s t e r e d at Kingstown, St. Vincent & Grenadines. Reports indicate that, by late March, WOODL AN DS had cleared Saint John (we are not aware of her destination) and thus it would appear that the financ ial dispute which had caused her to linger at Saint John was resol ved satisfactorily. In previous issues, we have m e n t i o n e d that the En er ch em Transp ort Inc. tanker ENER CH EM FUSION, (a) C H E MI CAL TR AN SP OR T (86), had been idle ever since a g r ou nd in g in the S a g ue na y River on July 20, 1990. She wi nt e r e d at Lauzon, Quebec, and on April 23rd she arri ved at Montreal, dis pl ay in g the name REAL PROGRESS and flying the Liberian flag. We have no additio nal details at present but must assume that the damage to the ship was su f f i c i e n t l y exten si ve that E n e rc he m did not wish to keep her in its fleet. An unusual flurry of acti vi ty occurred re ce nt ly on the wa ter fro nt at Port Lambton, Ontario. On April 16, the Star Line excurs ion boats STAR OF C H I CAGO II and STAR OF CHICAGO III arrived at Port Lamb ton for lay-up. STAR OF CHICAGO III was mo or ed at Lee Marine in No rth Port Lambton, while STAR OF CHIC AG O II was do cked at the South port on the Chenal Ecarte. An April 18, STAR OF DETROIT and STAR OF CHI CA GO arrived and were laid up in the Chenal Ecarte with STAR OF CHICAGO II. The Star Line oper ate d all four ships in the d i n n e r /cruise service at Chicago and Detroit during 1990, but now they are for sale and face an un c e r t a i n future. All of them sailed to Port Lambton under their own power.