New York City gave its traditional gala harbor welcome today to Israel’s new luxury liner, the 25, 000-ton S.S. Shalom. The $20, 000, 000 flagship of the Zim-Israel Navigation Company completed its 14-day maiden voyage from Haifa this afternoon amid the din and splendor of the first harbor welcome given a major passenger ship here in more than two years.
Passing liners and tugs saluted the flag-bedecked Shalom, as planes and helicopters circled overhead and New York City fireboats, spouting geysers of water, accompanied the vessel into port.
On hand to welcome the new liner were a large party of prominent civic personalities and Israeli officials who boarded the ship from pilot boats as it entered New York Bay. They included Ambassador Katriel Katz, Consul General of Israel; Leo Brown, New York City Commissioner of Marine and Aviation; and Gottlieb Hammer, president of the American Israeli Shipping Company.
In an official greeting on behalf of the Mayor and the City of New York, Mr. Brown said that “we are looking upon this ship not so much as a vessel but as a bridge between the United States and Israel for the passage of all amenities that create a world of peace which is what ‘Shalom’ symbolizes.”
Replying to the greeting, Captain Avner Freudenberg, 53-year-old master of the liner, said that the ship represented “not merely one of the finest trans-Atlantic liners ever built, but epitomizes the spirit of peace which we in the Israel merchant fleet regard as our prime motivation. We carry this message to the people of the world–Shalom.”
On its initial voyage today, the Shalom brought 650 passengers from Haifa, Naples, Marseilles and Malaga. The Israeli liner, which has a passenger capacity of nearly 1,100, carried a smaller number of passengers on its maiden run in order to allow the 460 crew members to acclimatize themselves to the ship without undue pressure. The ship will remain at anchor in New York for eight days, leaving on May 8 for the return trip to Haifa.
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