James A. Farrell Jr. Receives Admiral Of The Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Award

James A. Farrell Jr., chairman of Farrell Lines Incorporated, is the 1977 recipient of the Admiral of the Ocean Sea Award (AOTOS).

At 76, and still active as chairman of his family-owned line, he has logged a full halfcentury of energetic pioneering service to the cause of Americanflag shipping and the expansion of U.S. foreign trade, particularly with the continent of Africa.

The award was presented to him by James R. Barker, chairman, Moore-McCormack Lines, before a dinner-dance audience of 1,000 persons, Friday, September 23, at the New York Hilton Hotel.

The AOTOS Award takes its name from the title King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain bestowed on Christopher Columbus upon his return from discovering the New World in 1493. The title was revived by United Seamen's Service in 1970, when it sponsored the first AOTOS Award to honor the man each year who does the most to promote the cause of U.S.-flag shipping. The committee that selects each annual recipient is comprised of maritime labor, management and government leaders.

James A. Farrell Jr. was elected president of the newly formed American South African Line upon his graduation from Yale in 1926. In the ensuing years, he extended his company's services to all three coasts of Africa and is credited with doing the most to create an awareness in the American public about the future of Africa as a developing nation.

In 1963, Farrell Lines extended its service to New Zealand and Australia, and is the only American- flag company operating from the four coasts of the United States.

Mr. Farrell has been company chairman since 1964, and served additionally as chief executive officer from 1966 to 1970. In building Farrell Lines, he has pioneered welded shipbuilding, international port development, personnel and labor relations, conference organization, and he has been an outspoken advocate of U.S.-flag interests through the Committee of American Steamship Lines, which he founded and chaired.

As the head of three generations of Farrell maritime tradition, James A. Farrell Jr. looks back on a span of history from s q u a r e - r i g g e r s to automated steamships. When asked about the future, he says mildly, "If you mean for me personally, the Bible says threescore and ten." But in line with his company's trade, he reflects great pride in the type of close-knit family management and foresight that has made the Farrell fleet of 16 ships the youngest on the seas today, with an average age of 7 to 9 years per ship.

The Farrell tradition began in the mid-1880s, with immigrant mariner John Guy Farrell, who operated ships in the U.S. coastwise trade, and continued with James A. Farrell, who rose to become president of the United States Steel Corporation, essentially on his shipping expertise.

He created both the Isthmian and Argonaut Lines. His sons John J. and James A. Farrell Jr.

co-founded the American-South African Line in 1926, and renamed it Farrell Lines in 1947, with the acquisition of the West African trade route.

A proud chapter in the Farrell History was when Farrell Sr.

saved the last American squarerigger, the Tusitalia, and put it into its last 12 years of commercial service. In acknowledgement, Joseph Conrad wrote the elder Farrell, "The vital truth of sea life is to be found in the ancient saying that it is the stout hearts that make the ship safe." This embracing message has been posted in every Farrell ship and overseas office for decades and is indicative of the high regard Farrell has for the men who sail the ships.

Former Admirals of the Ocean Sea are: Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Maritime Affairs, the Honorable Robert J. Blackwell (1976) ; Washington Senator Warren G. Magnuson (1975) ; ILA p r e s i d e n t Thomas W. Gleason (1974) ; former Chairman, House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, Congresswoman Leonor K. Sullivan (1973) ; former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Maritime Affairs Andrew E.

Gibson (1972) ; former Chairman, Federal Maritime Commission, Helen Delich Bentley (1971) ; former chairman, Prudential Lines, the late Spyros P. Skouras (1970), and former president, National Maritime Union, Joseph E. Curran, Special Award (1973).

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 6, Oct 1977

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