Sammy Ofer, dead at 89

Sammy Ofer, dead at 89    Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer, 89, was found dead Friday in his Tel Aviv apartment, news reports said.
   The Ofer Brothers Group owns and operates Israel’s largest privately owned shipping enterprise, and through the holding company Israel Corp is a major owner of the container liner company Zim. The Ofer family is also a major investor in Royal Caribbean Cruises.
   The group evolved from Joseph Herschovici’s small ship chandlery and shipping agency in Haifa to become a multifaceted economic conglomerate, managed by his sons, who changed the family’s name to the Hebrew name, Ofer. Sammy and his brother Yuli built the company into one of the world's largest shipping companies. Their brother David, who died in 1994, also worked for the company after a government career.
   Sammy Ofer was also known as one of the world’s great art collectors with a collection of impressionist and modern paintings.
   Last week Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton decided to impose sanctions on Ofer Brothers and related companies saying that in September 2010 they provided a tanker valued at $8.65 million to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).
   “We believe that Tanker Pacific and Ofer Brothers Group failed to exercise due diligence and did not heed publicly available and easily obtainable information that would have indicated that they were dealing with IRISL,” Clinton said.