John Chafee, the former Governor of Rhode Island and U.S. Secretary of the Navy from 1969-72, has been elected chairman of the American Oil Transport Co., a subsidiary of Maritime Fruit Carriers Ltd. of Haifa, a world-wide Israeli shipping company. A spokesman for Maritime Fruit Carriers said Chafee was elected to the post after another prominent American, former Sen. Kenneth Keating, withdrew. Keating, a New York Republican, was formerly U.S. Ambassador to India and has been mentioned recently as the possible next U.S. Ambassador to Israel.
Other members of the board of the Israeli subsidiary are Saul Linowitz, former board chairman of the Xerox Corp. and former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States; Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Labor during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations; and Struve Hensel, Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Eisenhower administration.
Maritime Fruit Carriers specializes in the transport of fruits, vegetables and other perishables and reportedly owns 18 percent of the world’s reefer ship tonnage, part of it under the Israeli flag. The firm recently placed an order for 20. ships, including super tankers, with British and North Ireland shipyards.
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