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Ship of the M o n t h - cont'd. 12. vee r e d from the port bank and came d i r e c t l y at them. This would app ea r to have been a case of the ST OVE "sucking" the west bank of the canal and then, as other ships had done in the past and more p r o b a b l y will do in the narrow canal, s w i nging out into the path of an o n c o m i n g vessel. "'The f r e ighter hit us just for wa rd of port running light and made a hole just thier) says. 'She veered off and struc k a f t .' the port bridge wing, tore off the aft of the port fairlead,' he (Ga u again, tea ri ng anot he r hole further "John Mott said he was coming out of the galley, saw the f r eighter (the STOVE) was h e a d i n g for them and shouted, 'We're goi ng to be hit!' Then, he ran forward. The S T O N E F A X was hit twice. He raced to the forw ar d q u a r t e r s to call crewmen who were sleeping. Then, he helped the men trying to stop the water coming into the ship by dr aping a ta rpaulin over the hole. "They tried to land Cyril B o u dreau on a landi ng boom, but he co uldn't make it. He jumped into the w ater and swam ashore. So did Mott, and to gether they pulled the ship's (mooring) wi res ashore. The cre wm en on the ship kept their heads, and their lives... Wh en it becam e ob vious (that) the ship was going down, they took to the li feboats and ma de their way saf e l y ashore, 100 or so feet a w a y . " ST ONEFAX d r i f t e d down the canal, as her of ficers tried to find a mud ban k on w h i c h to run aground. Finally, as a tunnel s e l f - u n l o a d e r could not have w a t e r t i g h t c o m p a rtments in her hold, she fille d and set tl ed on the bott om about h a l f - w a y between Port R o b i n s o n and Al lanburg. She came to rest with her spar deck just submerged, and wit h a slight list to port. The ship he rs e l f was r e l a t i v e l y safe in this position, wit h her moor i n g cables s e c uring her to the east bank of the canal so that she could not slip out further into the n a v i g a t i o n cha nn el and block vessel traffic. As it was, some 30 ships were held up for about ten hours, whi le the St. L a w rence S e a way A u t h o r i t y v e r i f i e d the sta b i l i t y of the wreck. The Authority then gran ted p e r m i s s i o n for traffic to pass wit h caution, and at re duced speed, on the west side of the wreck. A tot ally different type of danger, however, res ul te d whe n ST ON EFAX's po tash cargo began to dis so lv e in the wate rs of the canal. Those c ommunities which n o r m a l l y drew even a part of their sup pl y of fresh wat er from the canal or its tr ibutaries had to make other arra n g e m e n t s unt il the w reck could be moved, in order to s a feguard the health of their residents. It should be n oted that the ship whi ch a p p eared to have cause d the problem, ART H U R STOVE, did not rece iv e any severe damage in the collision, and she had been allo w e d to pr oceed on her way after the n e c e s s a r y inspection. In a subs equent Suprem e Court decision, ART H U R STOVE was held 80% r e s p o nsible for the collision, whi le 20% l i a b i l i t y was a s s e s s e d again st STONEFAX. In due course of time, a cont ra ct for the rai si ng of S T O N E F A X was awar d e d to Ship Repairs & Supplies Ltd., Toronto, and this firm s u b c o n t r a c t e d part of the sa lvage w ork to the C a n a d i a n Dredge and Dock C o m p a n y Ltd., Toronto. The hatch area of the steam er 's spar deck was c o f f e r d a m m e d , and on N o v e m b e r 23, 1966, the pump i n g out of S T O N E F A X began. The ship was ref l o a t e d on Nove mb er 25th, a l t hough at one stage in the op eration, S T O NEFAX took on a sud de n 14° list to port (or outboard, toward the n a v i g a t i o n channel), and ship traffic past the site was st opped unt il the s i tuation could be rectified. After the da mag e to S T O NEFAX was sur ve ye d at Port Weller Dry Docks, and tem porary repairs were made there, the und e r w r i t e r s sold S T O NEFAX to Ship Repairs & Suppl ie s Ltd. The C a n adian Dred ge and Dock tugs TR AVELER and G. W. ROGERS then took ST ONEFAX in tow, and on N o v ember 28, 1966, she a r r i v e d at Toron to and was moored alo ng the north wall of the Turn i n g Basin. There, permanent rep ai rs were mad e dur in g the winter of 1966-1967. A great deal of general c l e aning up had to be acc om pl is he d, for the st eamer had a high scum line on her hull and th rough her cabins and engineroom, etc., as a result of co n t a m i n a t i o n with the m u d d y and p o t a s h - l a d e n canal waters.