Page 15: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 1969)

Mrs. Helen Delich Bentley Appointed FMC Chairman President R. M. Nixon has nominated Mrs. Helen Delich Bentley, maritime editor of the Baltimore Sun, as a member and chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission. Mrs. Bent-ley will succeed Adm. John Harllee in the $40,-000 a year maritime post. Admiral Harllee re-cently submitted his resignation and left the Commission on September 1. Mrs. Bentley is well known in maritime cir-cles and has a wide and deep understanding of the U.S. shipping industry. This knowledge has been gained in more than 20-years of study-ing and reporting on shipping and shipbuild-ing affairs. Her reportorial activities, while based in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., have taken her all over the United States and to many foreign countries. The Federal Maritime Commission is one of two major federal agencies involved in ocean shipping. The Commission, composed of five members serving five-year terms, regulates rates, sailing practices and other activities of international and domestic offshore shipping involved in the nation's waterborne trade. Un-like the Maritime Administration, which is part of the Department of Commerce, the Commis-sion is an independent agency. Mrs. Bentley is scheduled to take up her duties with the Commission on October 1. She will be given a leave of absence from the Balti-more Sun. Bethlehem Steel Only Bidder For Matson Containerships Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Md., was the only shipyard to submit bids to build two containerships for Matson Naviga-tion Company. The bids were $30.1-million to build one and $28.2-million for each of two with delivery of the first promised in 1,080 days and the sec-ond in 1,170 days. Matson has applied for construction subsidy for the two ships but the Maritime Administra-tion has not yet acted on the request. International Utilities Expands Tourism Stake With $25-Million Move Into Cruise Ship Field International Utilities Corp., Toronto, Ont., expanding its already large leisure time and tourism commitment, will enter the cruise ship business in a $25-million, two-step diversifica-tion move for its Gotaas-Larsen shipping sub-sidiary of New York City. IU's president, John M. Seabrook, and H. Irgens Larsen, head of the shipping company, announced that Gotaas-Larsen will acquire all property, equipment and facilities of Eastern Steamship Lines, a Miami-based cruise ship line, operating to the Caribbean Islands from that port. In the transaction, Gotaas-Larsen gets two all-first-class luxury cruise ships?the Ariadne, with a passenger capacity of 325, and the New Bahama Star, with passenger capacity of 700. Both ships offer first-class luxury ac-commodations and are newly refitted and re-decorated. In the second part of the diversification move, Gotaas-Larsen, working through Royal Carib-bean Cruise Line, a new company in which it has a one-third interest, is building in Finland three ultra-modern first-class 15,000-ton luxu-ry cruise ships, each with a passenger capacity of 850. These ships, slated for delivery in 1970 and 1971, also will operate out of Miami in Caribbean waters. Mr. Seabrook said that the two separate moves will amount to a total cost of approxi-mately $25-million for International Utilities. Eastern Steamship Lines will continue to operate under present management and under its present name. Mr. Larsen noted that the other two com-panies involved in the Norwegian partnership are I. M. Skaugen & Co., and Anders Wilhelm-sen & Co., both of Oslo. Gotaas-Larsen has been a freight-only oper-ation until this time, except for a period of three years following World War II. The firm now operates tankers, bulk carriers, refrigera-tor ships, and self-loading/unloading lighten-ing vessels. At the close of 1968, the company's shipping fleet numbered 33 vessels. Four tank-ers and one refrigerator ship still under con-struction will bring the total deadweight ton-nage of the fleet to 2,180,000, not counting the new cruise ships acquired and under construc-tion. Mr. Seabrook noted that this latest develop-ment ties in with the recent emphasis on the tourist business of C. Brewer and Company, Limited, another International Utilities sub-sidiary. With operations primarily in Hawaii, C. Brewer recently announced extensive plans for hotel acquisition and building in that state, he said, and the company also holds acreage in Puerto Rico, which likewise is being considered for hotel and general tourist development. International Utilities, with assets of over $l-billion, is one of the largest companies in Canada and the U.S. It began 44 years ago as a holding company for gas and electricity utili-ty properties in Western Canada. Since then, it has diversified into mineral and petroleum exploration and mining, water utilities, truck-ing, oceanography, tourism, agriculture, real estate, and various manufacturing operations and financial services. 0. A. R. N. OFFICINE ALLESTIMENTO E. RIPARAZIONI NAVI LTD. SHIP REPAIRS - GENOA, ITALY On the oil route Genoa awaits tankers returning from discharging. Overhauls and repairs of any kind and size of main and auxiliary engines (steam turbine, diesel and electric). Hull Repairs and Conversions. 1' Jfl |k '// /jHH PHfMi \ ; 'ISKK?JPK, Jmp Jiff MM ' ? 115 ?HHNHEiiBv J^WMA ??;.::' .?.?.?;?'??:?? ? ? ? / ? > O.A.R.N. P.O. BOX N. 1395 GENOA, ITALY 16100 CABLE MOLOGIANO GENOA Telex 27090 OARN Telephone 292541 U.S.A. CORRESPONDENT JAMES R. PORTER 17 Battery Place, N. Y., N. Y. 10004 Tel. Code 212 WH 3-8795 Telex 421474 PORTER Fincantieri Group Affiliated with Ansaldo, Ltd. September 1, 1969 17