This photograph is part of the Shipbuilding on the River Tyne, 1960 - 1977 collection which was kindly donated to Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.

Taken by Ronald Sanderson, this photograph captures a view of the river probably taken from the Commercial Road area of South Shields, of The Ottawa launched into the river and being turned with the aid of the tugs in front of spectators. This photograph was taken in 10th June 1964 [1]. It is a 35mm slide.

The Ottawa was one of a large number of ships to bear this name, but this particular one was a tanker built at Swan Hunter's Wallsend yard in 1964 for Trident Tankers Ltd.