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Avraham Ariel, Master Mariner, MBA, PhD, FICS

General

Captain Avraham Ariel is a retired sailor and a shipping personality. His maritime career was three-pronged, as Poseidon's trident was: Active sea-going service in the merchant marine, senior shipping management positions and maritime academia. He is also a marine inventor and the author of books and papers, mainly on maritime affairs.

Childhood and Early Years

Born in Mazkeret Batya (aka Ekron), then Palestine, on 1 November 1934. His parents – both school teachers – emigrated to Palestine in 1930 from Volkovysk ^[1] (now Vawkavysk) in Belaus, via Argentina, where his parental grandfather settled in one of Baron Hirsh's colonias of Gauchos Judios. On his way to Palestine (1928) his father established the youth movement Hashomer Hatza'ir in Brazil. Ariel graduated from the Haifa Nautical College (later The Naval Academy, Akko) Class of 1951, as its youngest graduate.

Academic Education

Avraham Ariel at the ceremony of admittance to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Sydney NSW, 14 October 1988.

1949-1951 Haifa Nautical College (affiliated with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology) Navigation Department. Graduate diploma.
1969-1970 First Year economics, Haifa University. Ceased studying after being assigned to a shipping management position in Australia.
1977-1978 Master of Business Administration (MBA) Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
1986-1988 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Thesis title: Towards an Innovative Integrated Management System for Overseas Distribution of Dry Bulk Edible Commodities.

Professional qualifications

1953-1959 Certification for all ranks in the merchant marine's Deck Department: From Able Bodied Seaman (1953) to Master Mariner [Foreign Going] (1959).
1977 Associate (by thesis) Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, London. Thesis title: Chartering and Operating Small Refrigerated Vessels in the Australian Meat and Fruit Export Trades.
1978 Fellow (by thesis) Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, London. Thesis title: Some Applications of Management Sciences and Computer Techniques in Shipping Management.

Seagoing Service

At the age of sixteen and a half Ariel signed on as an apprentice aboard the S/S Haifa (Israeli Seaman's Book No. 2004) and sailed for two years aboard vessels of Israel-America Line, which was a partnership of Zim Lines and the Recanati Family. At 19 he was certificated as a Third Officer. He served aboard the Artsa, Yehuda, Jerusalem (aka Aliya), Volta River and Tamar, quickly ascending the rungs of command, and was certificated as a Ship Master at 24 (certificate No. 477). A year later he earned his first command aboard the S/S Tsfonit and became Israel's youngest certificated captain ever, a record he holds for 52 years.

Ariel did his national service in the merchant marine, in accordance with a deal struck between the Ministry of Defense and Haifa Nautical College, whereby graduates of Classes of '51 and '52 – who opted for a sea-going career – had to serve four years in the merchant marine in lieu of two years in the Israeli Navy.

He served as a master also aboard the Eshel, Geffen, Netanya, Otchi River and Nakwa River. In 1966 he hanged his cap and changed the bridge for shore-based management duties.

Black Star Line: In 1957 Ghana (ex Gold Coast) was the first British colony in Africa to win its independence from Great Britain. Other colonies soon followed suite and the Israeli government was quick to establish economical and political relations with those new free African nations. One of first steps taken was a joint venture between the government of Ghana and Israel's national carrier, Zim Lines, which culminated in the inauguration of Black Star Line – Ghana national carrier. Ariel volunteered to serve as the Chief Officer aboard the Volta River, a steamer of 1939 vintage. He returned as a master to Black Star Line's new vessels in 1962-65, and served there three unforgettable years of long voyages to Tropical Africa, challenges and satisfaction.

Shipping Management Positions

1966-1970 Operations Manager, Maritime Fruit Carriers Co. Ltd.,Head Office, Haifa, Israel. One year also Human Resources Manager. Consultant to Flota Bananera Equatoriana of Ecuador.
1970-1973 Maritime Fruit Carriers Pty Ltd., Sydney, Australia, manager of its Australia to North America Line.
1974-1989 Managing Director and owner of ship-broking, chartering and shipping consultancy companies at Sydney. The inventor of the BIBO ships (see below).

The BIBO Project

The *CHL Innovator*, first *BIBO* vessel.

In 1986 Ariel researched – for the purpose of his PhD work, and in conjunction with his business – the topic of integrated maritime transport of bulk edible commodities, such as white sugar, flour, rice, cocoa and coffee beans. The outcome was the development of the BIBO concept – Bulk In Bagged out transportation, namely loading and carrying in bulk and discharging in bags, as required by the importing markets. The end result was innovation at its best – the invention of the world's first vessel to carry white sugar in bulk. Five BIBO ships were since built, contributing towards the optimization of the world's sugar trade. ^[2].

Academic Activity

1990-1998 Haifa University, lecturer in Merchant Ship Economics.
1996-1997 Member of the steering committee to establish the Israel Maritime College and chairman of its academic program.
1998-2003 Dean of the School of Economics and Managing Maritime Systems, Israel Maritime College, Michmoret, Israel.

Academic Publications

Electronic Aids to Navigation. Instruction book for Merchant Marine Officers, Marine Department, Israeli Ministry of Transport. Haifa, 1965.
Navigating with McIntyre. The Great Circle, The Australian Journal of Maritime History, Vol.6, No.2. 1984.
Delphi Forecast of the Dry Bulk Shipping Industry in the Year 2000. Maritime Policy and Management, Vol.16, No. 4, 1989.
Innovation in Bulk Shipping - a System View. Sapanut, Vol. 18, No.2, 1990 (in Hebrew).
Evaluation of Political Risk in Shipping Projects. Maritime Policy and Management, Vol.17, No. 1, 1990.
The Effect of Inventory Holding Costs on the Optimal Payload of Bulk Carriers. Maritime Policy and Management, Vol.18, No.3, 1991.
Integrating Israeli-owned Bulk Carriers in the Israeli Grain Import Trade. Wydra Institute of Shipping and Aviation Research, University of Haifa, 1993. (In Hebrew). ^[3]
Navigating with Dava Sobel - A Sailor's Critique. European Journal of Navigation,Vol.2, No.3, 2004.

Literary Publications

File:PtG.jpg

Plotting the Globe

1953-54 Short sea stories in Dvar Hashavu'a and other Israeli publications (In Hebrew).
1988 The Last War. A maritime-political thriller about the Israeli-South African nuclear cooperation. Publisher: Collins Australia.
1993 A ship of Prey. A maritime thriller based on a mysterious event that took place in the Israeli merchant marine. Publisher: Ketter, Jerusalem. (In Hebrew).
1997 The Book of Names – Israel 200 Most Populous Families. Publisher: Israel MoD Publications, Tel Aviv. (In Hebrew).
1999 Sea Dogs. A collection of short sea stories. Publisher: Ledori, Tel Aviv. (In Hebrew).
2001 Don't be a Sucker – Small Claims. The full guide to Israel's Small Claim Courts. Publisher: Or Am, Tel Aviv. (In Hebrew).
2006 Plotting the Globe. Stories of Meridians, Parallels and the International Date Line. Publisher: Greenwood, Westport CT, USA. (Written in conjunction with Nora Ariel-Berger).
2011 Lord Gil. A play about an Israeli ship master who retired for new life in South East Asia, inspired by Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim. When the moment of truth comes, the protagonist sacrifices his life to save an Israeli container ship attacked by Islamist pirates. Tzavta's Plays Reading Festival, 2011, Tel Aviv. (In Hebrew).

Scholarships, Prizes & Literary Commendations

1950-51 School and boarding scholarship (50%). Israel Nautical College, Haifa.
1960 First Prize in National Short Maritime Story Competition. Israel Maritime League, Tel Aviv.
1998 Literary Work Grant. Haifa Culture Fund & Authors Association, for the book Sea Dogs.
2011 Commendation for the play Lord Gil. Play-reading competition, Tzavta Theater, Tel Aviv.

Public Appointments

1990 An expert-consultant on maritime transport and defense matters to the team preparing the Policy Document for Managing Israel's Littoral Region. Planning Division, Israel's Ministry of the Interior.
1997 A member of the Brain Trust of the Israeli Navy and Nauticos Corporation , to locate the wreck of the Israeli Submarine Dakar, lost in 1968. The team recommended to search a 60-mile long, 4-mile wide sector of the Eastern Mediterranean. Nauticos located the Submarine in 1999, at the middle of that sector.
1997-2003 A foundation member of the Board of Governors of Israel Maritime College.
1997-2002 & 2010-2013 An External Director, Cohen Pituach & Mivnei Ta'assiya Ltd.
1998 A member of the Dakar Prize Board. The Israeli Goverment Offered a prize for information leading to finding the submarine and the Board was in charge of sorting the information received from all over the world. The Board was discharged when the wreck was located in May 1999.
1998 A member of the Professional Committee for Developing Maritime Education, Israel's Ministry of Education.
2002-12 Chairman of the Committee for Nautical Terms, The Academy of Hebrew Language, Jerusalem.
2007 An expert-consultant on maritime transport and defense matters to the team preparing the Policy Document for Artificial Islands for Public Infrastructures. Planning Division, Israel's Ministry of the Interior.

Family

Married (since 1959) to Ruth, daughter of the late Knesset member Dr Arie Altman. Children: Son – Jonathan (born 1965) an economist, and daughter – Nora Berger (born 1967) an AIPAC executive. Two grandchildren. His sister Shulamit is married to ex Minister for Immigration Absorption and Knesset member Yair Tsaban.