Maritime Disaster

"I christen thee Olympic Bravery," cried Christina Onassis, as she smashed a bottle of champagne last October against the blunt bow of the first giant tanker to be delivered to the Onassis fleet since she took over its management after the death of her father, Aristotle Onassis. The 275,000-ton ship, which earlier had undergone successful sea trials, headed from Brest on her maiden voyage on Jan. 24 and ran into a sudden squall. Then the ship's engines inexplicably quit, leaving it to drift in 60-m.p.h. gusts; the 30-man crew dropped two anchors but the anchor chains snapped. So the voyage covered only about 35 miles, ending against the rocks of the island of Ushant. There the tanker rests, sinking slowly as water seeps in through gashes torn in her hull by the rocks. Last week the Onassis group began final attempts to refloat the tanker; if they fail the ship will be declared a total loss.

A disaster? For Lloyd's of London and other insurers, certainly: the $50 million insurance money that they stand to pay to Olympic Maritime S.A. would be the largest insurance payoff in maritime history (previous record: $27 million). For Christina Onassis, hardly. The Olympic Bravery had been headed only for expensive unemployment. Its maiden voyage had been destined to end in a Norwegian fjord, where it was to join at least 385 other supertankers lying idle round the world, waiting for oil shipments to pick up. Potential mothballing costs: as much as $20,000 a day. The insurance payment would enable Christina to pay off the ship's $42 million mortgage and recoup most of the $10 million her father laid out as a down payment. Given the depressed state of the tanker market, Olympic Bravery would fetch between $20 million and $25 million--if a buyer could be found.

The Onassis fleet has had an excellent safety record in the past, and there is no question that Lloyd's will pay. Says a Lloyd's spokesman: "Our check is already drawn up and waits only for signature."

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