A HISTORY OF GREEK-OWNED SHIPPING MARITIME HISTORY Series Editor: Lewis R.Fischer A History of Finnish ShippingYrjö Kaukiainen A HISTORY OF GREEK- OWNED SHIPPING The making of an international tramp fleet, 1830 to the present day Gelina Harlaftis London and New York First published 1996 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1996 Gelina Harlaftis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. 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A catalogue record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-99332-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-00018-1 (Print Edition) To my father, Basil Harlaftis, who taught me to love and respect the Sea CONTENTS List of tables viii List of figures xii List of plates xv Acknowledgements xv Introduction xix Part I The nineteenth century 1 TRADE AND SHIPPING OF THE EASTERN 2 MEDITERRANEAN AND THE BLACK SEA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 2 GREEK COMMERCIAL AND MARITIME NETWORKS: 38 THE ‘CHIOT’ PHASE, 1830s–1860s 3 GREEK MARITIME AND COMMERCIAL NETWORKS: 71 THE ‘IONIAN’ PHASE, 1870s–1900s 4 SHIPPING AND GREECE, 1830–1914 107 5 VOYAGES, MASTERS AND SEAMEN 147 Part II The twentieth century 6 GREEK MARITIME ‘EXPANSION’, 1914–39 183 7 LABOUR RELATIONS IN THE GREEK-OWNED FLEET 224 IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD 8 THE TROUBLED 1940s: SETTING THE BASIS FOR THE 243 ‘LEAP FORWARD’ 9 INTERNATIONAL SEA-TRADE AND GREEK-OWNED 264 SHIPPING IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY vii 10 THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME NETWORK OF THE 288 GREEKS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Appendices 304 Notes 460 Select bibliography 488 Index 498 TABLES 1.1 The main ports of the Mediterranean and northern Europe 8 1.2 The growth of the Black Sea grain trade 12 1.3 Destinations of wheat exported from Odessa in 1838 17 1.4 Grain exports from Egypt 18 1.5 Egyptian cotton exported by Greek-owned firms 20 1.6 Tonnage of ships clearing the ports of the Black Sea 22 1.7 Destination of Russian wheat exports 25 1.8 Tonnage of Greek-owned ships clearing the ports of the Black Sea 27 1.9 Return of Greek-owned ships reported as British in 1842 30 1.10 Main liner steamship companies covering the sea-routes of the 34 eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, 1860–1910 1.11 Main sea-routes of liner steamship companies to the ports of 35 England, 1860–1910 1.12 Main sea-routes of liner steamship companies to Marseilles 36 2.1 Vessels entered for loading at the port of Liverpool from the ports of 40 the eastern Mediterranean 2.2 Greek merchant/shipowners handling the trade from the eastern 42 Mediterranean and the Black Sea at the ports of England 2.3 Greek merchant/shipowners handling the trade from the eastern 44 Mediterranean and the Black Sea at the port of Marseilles 2.4 Imports from the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea ports to 45 Marseilles by the five principal merchant houses in 1840 2.5 Imports from the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea ports to 46 Marseilles by the five principal Greek merchant houses in 1850 2.6 Exports of the commercial houses of Odessa to Great Britain, 1841– 48 5 2.7 Exports from Taganrog distinguishing Greek merchant houses, 49 1851–2 2.8 Greeks as consuls in various port-cities, 1830s–1860s 56 2.9 List of Greek members of the Baltic Exchange, 1886 58 2.10 Greek merchants as shipowners, 1830–60 61 2.11 Ship arrivals at Marseilles and the ports of England 63 3.1 River fleet of the Rumanian Danube and Prouthos in 1895 and 1900 73 3.2 Origin of shipowners of the riverboats of the Rumanian Danube in 74 1900 3.3 Corp of pilots of the Danube in 1901 75 ix 3.4 The ten biggest owners of riverboats on the Danube in 1895 75 3.5 Tonnage of ships leaving the Danube 77 3.6 List of the principal Greek exporters in the Azov, in 1886 80 3.7 Tonnage of ships clearing the ports of the Azov Sea, Taganrog, 81 Kertch, Berdiansk, Mariupol 3.8 Exports of the commercial houses at Nicolaieff 84 3.9 Tonnage of ships clearing the ports of Odessa, Nicolaieff, Sevastopol 84 and Theodosia 3.10 List of principal exporters in Novorossisk 87 3.11 Tonnage of ships clearing the eastern ports of the Black Sea, Batum, 87 Poti and Novorossisk 3.12 Tonnage of ships clearing the south-western ports of the Black Sea, 88 Varna and Burghaz 3.13 Tonnage of ships clearing Constantinople 90 3.14 Greek merchant/shipowners handling the trade from the eastern 93 Mediterranean at the port of Marseilles 3.15 Greek merchant/shipowners handling the trade from the eastern 94 Mediterranean at the ports of England 3.16 The Vagliano fleet 96 3.17 The fleet of the Embiricos family 98 3.18 Greek steamships owned or financed by members of the Ionian 102 network 4.1 Growth of the Greek-owned shipping fleet, 1835–1914 110 4.2 Shipbuilding in Greece, 1843–58 119 4.3 The voyages on which sail and steam were competitive for bulk 122 cargo 4.4 Steamships owned by members of the Chiot and Ionian networks, 126 1860–85 4.5 Greek shipping offices in London 130 4.6 Age structure of new acquisitions of Greek steamships, 1895–1910 133 4.7 Steam tonnage as percentage of total tonnage of the main maritime 135 nations, 1880–1910 4.8 Investing groups of the Greek-owned steamship fleet, Syros and 136 Piraeus ship registries, 1880–1910 4.9 Numbers of shareholders on Greek steamships registered in Syros 138 and Piraeus, 1880–1910 4.10 Ship finance from the Bank of Athens for the total Greek fleet, 1900– 138 14 4.11 Number of ships owned by Greek shipping companies 139 4.12 Masters as shipowners in Greek-owned shipping, 1879 144 4.13 Owners of Syros and Piraeus steamships by occupational categories, 146 1880–1910 5.1 The voyages of Odysseas, 1837–41 149 5.2 The voyages of Anastassia, 1881–98 152 x 5.3 The voyages of Theofania, 1873–6 158 5.4 Voyages of ss Calliope Nicolopulo, 1880–1 162 5.5 Voyages of ss Demetrius S.Schilizzis, 1895–1902 163 5.6 Voyages of ss Leonidas, 1905–7 166 5.7 Voyages of ss Andriana, 1906 167 5.8 Average number and duration of voyages per year 172 5.9 The profits of the voyages of Andriana, 1906–9 172 5.10 Greek seamen, 1839–1910 173 5.11 Composition of crew in an ocean-going Greek cargo sailing vessel of 174 about 250 NRT 5.12 Composition of crew in an ocean-going Greek cargo steamship 175 vessel of about 2,000 GRT in 1910 5.13 Mean wages for able-bodied seamen on sailing vessels in selected 179 ports 5.14 Monthly wages for Greek and Norwegian ABs for deep-sea-going 180 vessels 6.1 Ships larger than 2,000 GRT as percentage of total national fleets in 186 1914 6.2 Taxes and profits of shipping during the First World War, 1915–19 187 6.3 Top twelve merchant fleets, 1914–37 189 6.4 Greek-owned fleet, 1919–38 192 6.5 Ownership structure of the Rethymnis and Kulukundis ships 200 6.6 Single-ship companies and the Greek fleet 221 6.7 Single-ship companies in the various national fleets, 1931–2 222 7.1 Greek seamen in the interwar period 225 7.2 Composition of seamen on cargo ships 226 7.3 Composition of crew in ocean-going Norwegian and Greek cargo 227 vessels in 1925 7.4 Seamen on board Greek flag steamships in 1910 and 1930 according 232 to places of origin 7.5 Greek seamen’s wages on deep-sea-going vessel 238 7.6 Wages for able-bodied seamen on steamships on Greek, Norwegian, 241 British, German, Dutch, Spanish and Japanese fleets 8.1 Standard national rates of pay for ABs, Britain and Greece, 1933–65 250 8.2 Distribution of the 100 Liberty ships in 1947 254 8.3 The Greek-owned merchant fleet, 1938–62 259 8.4 Structure of the Liberian and Panamanian fleets 261 9.1 Development of world seaborne dry cargo and oil trade, 1948–89 266 9.2 World seaborne trade of main bulk commodities 269 9.3 Development of world fleet, 1948–93 272 9.4 Tanker fleets by the seven oil companies 275 9.5 Greek-owned fleet according to type of ship 278 9.6 The ten biggest fleets, 1939–63 282 9.7 The ten biggest fleets, 1973–93 285 xi 10.1 The Greek maritime network, 1914–90 289 10.2 Main headquarters of Greek-owned shipping firms, 1914–90 291 10.3 Origins of the main Greek shipowning families, 1914, 1938, 1958 294 and 1975 10.4 Places of origin of Greek seamen, 1930, 1959 and 1980 296 10.5 Real ownership of the principal cargo carrying fleets in 1992 299 FIGURES 1.1 Main islands of origin of twentieth-century shipowners (Map) 3 1.2 The main Black Sea ports (Map) 7 1.3 Maritime geography of general cargo from the eastern Mediterranean 10 and the Black Sea (Map) 1.4 Arrivals at Marseilles from eastern Mediterranean ports 10 1.5 Arrivals at British ports from eastern Mediterranean ports 10 1.6 Tonnage of general cargo from the eastern Mediterranean 13 1.7 Tonnage of bulk cargo from the eastern Mediterranean 13 1.8 Maritime geography of bulk cargo from the eastern Mediterranean 13 and the Black Sea(Map) 1.9 Growth of Egyptian cotton exports 20 1.10 Percentage of Greeks in the bulk trade from eastern Mediterranean to 21 French and British ports 1.11 Greek ships in British ports 21 1.12 Growth of Black Sea grain trade 22 1.13 Growth of Black Sea shipping (departures) 26 1.14 Greek-owned shipping in Black Sea (departures) 32 1.15 Percentage of Greek-owned shipping of total Black Sea shipping 32 (departures) 2.1 The Chiot commercial and maritime network, 1830s–1860s (Map) 40 2.2 The network of Ralli Brothers, 1830s–1860s (Map) 53 2.3 Ports for orders 60 3.1 The Ionian commercial and maritime network, 1870s–1900s (Map) 72 3.2 The Ionian network and twentieth-century Greek shipowners.