1.
L.V. NAME ON TANKER OLYMPIC "CHALLENGE"
6 ft

2.
C.U. FLAG
5 ft

3.
C.U. MR. ONASSIS
4 ft

4.
C.U. MRS WESTPHAL SPEAKING BEFORE LAUNCHING THE TANKER
5 ft

5.
C.U. MRS WESTPHAL SWINGS BOTTLE TO LAUNCH TANKER.
5 ft

6.
L.V. PAN BOW OF TANKER AS IT GOES DOWN SLIPWAY.
9 ft

7.
C.U. MRS WESTPHAL
5 ft

8.
SIDE V. TANKER PAST CAMERA.
13 ft

9.
C.U. PEOPLE.
4 ft

10.
L.V. BOW OF TANKER REACHES WATER.
6 ft

11.
L.V. THE TANKER AFLOAT
6 ft



Initials KJ/CW A.W./R.L.



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Greek shipping magnate Onassis watched the launching of his latest giant of the seas, the 65,000-ton turbine supertanker "Olympic Challenger", at the Howaldt dockyard in Kiel, W. Germany, Dec 20.

The tanker, built in 6 1/2 months for Onassis's Olympic Maritime S.A. Monte Carlo, is reported to be the largest freighter ever launched in Europe.

As Frau Maria Luise Westphal, wife of the chairman of the Howaldt shipyards in Kiel, cracked the conventional bottle of champagne on the bows, 16,000 tons of steel gracefully shaped into a mighty ship started sliding down the slipway. The new floating giant has an overall length of nearly 840 feet, a width of 108 feet, and an average speed of 17 knots. Loading capacity is about 65,000 tons.

The "Olympic Challenger" will fly the Liberian flag.