US Edition A CHEVRON tanker called after one of President Bush's closest advisers has been renamed after concern that its illustration of the links between the White House and "Big Oil" was causing bad publicity.
The tanker was named Condoleezza Rice in 1993 when she was a Chevron board member, former foreign policy aide to Mr Bush's father and Stanford University academic. But her elevation to the post of National Security Adviser forced a rethink.
Without fanfare, the 129,000-ton tanker has become the Altair Voyager. The Bush administration is sensitive about its ties to the oil industry and is seeking to present a more environmentally friendly image.
Mr Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Don Evans, the Commerce Secretary, are all former oilmen. Miss Rice had defended the ship on the grounds that Chevron had named vessels after other prominent board members such as George Shultz, Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan.
Chevron is being sued for alleged breaches of human rights in Nigeria and the press would have had a field day if the Condoleezza Rice had ever run aground.