MARINE NEWS 2. One of the most unpleasant items which we ever have reported in these pages concerns the recent demise of the former Sandusky steam ferry G. A. BOECK LING. As readers will be aware, a group known as Friends of the Boeckling had purchased the old double-ended, sidewheel ferry, had towed her back to Sandusky from her longtime resting place at Sturgeon Bay, and had set about the task of raising funds and planning the restoration of the historic ves sel for an eventual return to active service. The BOECKLING was moved to the Toledo shipyard in the spring of 1 9 8 8 , where her hull was examined on dry dock. The ship was then moored at the Hocking Valley Docks, near the Craig Bridge on the Maumee River, pending the obtaining of the necessary funding. Unfortunately, the ship became the object of vandalism and finally, at 2: 15 a. m. on June 21, 1989, fire crews were called to the vessel. When they ar rived, they found the entire wooden superstructure of the ferry ablaze in a fire which subsequently was considered to be of incendiary origin. The fire soon was under control, but not before the ship had been burned to the main deck, with nothing but her stack, the main deck bulwarks, steel paddleboxes and some deck supports remaining above the hull. Not only were the authori ties concerned about environmental impact of insulation exposed by the fire, but it was determined upon close inspection that the deck and hull had suf fered severe structural damage. Accordingly, and with great regret, Friends of the Boeckling decided on July 27 that restoration plans would have to be forgotten and the burned-out, 8 0 -year-old hull was abandoned to the under writers, presumably to be broken up shortly. So many people had given so ge nerously of their time, expertise and money toward the BOECKLING project that the destruction of the vessel in such a senseless fashion is all the more regrettable. The Toronto Marine Historical Society extends its most sincere condolences to the "Friends" in respect of the loss of such a val ued marine artifact as G. A. BOECKLING. The fleet of Socanav Inc., Montreal, has been expanded by the addition of the motortanker (b) NEW ORLEANS, which was acquired from the Orleans Ship ping Company Ltd., of the Cayman Islands, and which was renamed (c) NANCY ORR GAUCHER upon her arrival in Canada. She previously was (a) LANA (Sw. 10849) which originally was owned by Lars Johansson and later was transferred to O . T. Rederierna, both of Skarhamn, Sweden. The ship was built in 1 96 7 by Lodose Varv A/B at Lodose, Sweden, as the yard's Hull 151. and was fitted with an 8 -cylinder Mannheim diesel. As built, she was 284.5 x 41.1 x 22.6, 2254 Gross and 1264 Net. In 1974, she was lengthened to 3 2 3 .4 x 41.1 x 2 5 .0, 2854 Gross (later 2999) and 1849 Net. She duly was placed in service in Ca nada but, on July 2 5 , NANCY ORR GAUCHER experienced an unfortunate accident whilst unloading at Hamilton. It seems that h e r asphalt cargo contained w a ter, and when the cargo was heated for off-pumping, the water turned to steam and blew out a deck valve, resulting in an escape of asphalt which covered the tanker's deck, coated the front of her aft superstructure, and contaminated the water near the ship. The asphalt congealed in the open air and McKeil crews were called in to clean up the resultant mess. The GAUCHER did not clear Hamilton until August 8 , and even then she sailed with what was left of her cargo still in her holds, as the consignee refused to ac cept the contaminated asphalt. Another asphalt tanker got herself into serious trouble during the summer. On August 13th, while docked at the Irving refinery at St. Romuald, Quebec, ENERCHEM ASPHALT suffered an engineroom fire and, according to a Lloyds ca sualty report, she sustained extensive damage. The report contained no men tion of the cause of the fire. Early on August 13, a charter fishing boat, with its owner and four passen gers aboard, was run down in fog by the cement barge CLARKSON CARRIER which was being pushed by the tug PETITE FORTE. The accident occurred about three miles offshore, when the loaded barge and tug were heading for Oswego. The yacht overturned and its occupants thrown into the water, but all were res cued by another boat. Local police charged the master of PETITE FORTE with failing to keep a proper lookout.