Andrew Gibson; Key U.S. Maritime Official

Andrew E. Gibson, a veteran mariner and official in the Nixon administration who helped craft the Merchant Marine Act of 1970 and negotiated the U.S.-Soviet maritime agreement of 1972, has died. He was 79.

Gibson, a merchant marine captain during World War II and later a Navy lieutenant, died of cancer July 8 at his home in Short Hills, N.J.

Named maritime administrator by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969, Gibson served until 1972, playing a major role in drafting the merchant marine law.

Nixon then appointed him assistant secretary of Commerce for maritime affairs and later assistant secretary of Commerce for domestic and international business. In that final role, Gibson went to Moscow to help negotiate the Soviet-American wheat shipment agreement.

Gibson left government in 1973 for a job as president of Philadelphia-based Interstate Oil Transport Co.

President Gerald R. Ford sought to lure him back to Washington 16 months later by naming him head of the Federal Energy Administration. But Gibson withdrew his name under fire over the severance pay he would receive from Interstate--more than $88,000 a year for 10 years.

The financial link to Interstate, operator of oil tankers with ties to petroleum marketer Cities Service Co., was seen by critics as a conflict of interest for a government energy guru.

Born in Boston, Gibson earned an degree in economics from Brown University and years later a doctorate from the University of Wales at Cardiff in Britain. He spent 23 years with Grace Line, rising to senior vice president, and later headed Delta Steamship Lines and chaired American Automar Inc.

Gibson also taught for several years at the Naval War College. Last year, with Arthur Donovan, he co-wrote “The Abandoned Ocean: A History of United States Maritime Policy,” which one reviewer praised as “immensely valuable.”

Gibson is survived by his wife, Judith; five children from a previous marriage; and seven grandchildren.