Leadership in World Shipping Also By Gelina Harlaftis: GREEK SHIPOWNERS AND , 1945–1975. From Separate Development to Mutual Interdependence

A -OWNED SHIPPING. The Making of an International Tramp Fleet, 1830 to the present day

PONTOPOREIA. HISTORICAL REGISTRY OF SAILING SHIPS AND STEAMSHIPS, 1830–1939 (in Greek, with Nikos Vlassopoulos)

PLOTO. GREEK SHIPOWNERS FROM THE LATE 18TH CENTURY TO THE EVE OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR (with Manos Haritatos, Helen Beneki)

Edited volumes: GLOBAL MARKETS: The Internationalization of Sea Transport Industries since the 1850s (with David Starkey)

GREECE OF THE SEA (with Spyros Asdrachas and Tasos Tzamtzis) (in Greek)

HISTORY AND SHIPPING, 16TH–20TH CENTURIES (in Greek)

NEW DIRECTIONS IN MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME HISTORY (with Carmel Vassalo)

DIASPORA ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORKS. Five Centuries of History (with Ina Baghdiantz McCabe and Ioanna Minoglou)

FOLLOWING THE NEREIDS. Sea Routes and Maritime Business, 16th–20th Centuries (with Maria Christina Chatziioannou)

Also by Ioannis Theotokas:

GREEK SHIPPING, EMPLOYMENT AND COMPETITIVENESS. Human Resource Man- agement Strategies (With Maria Lekakou, Thanos Pallis, Theodore Syriopoulos, Ioannis Tsamourgelis) (in Greek)

The translation was sponsored by the shipping companies: • Shipmanagement Co Ltd • Buenamar Compania Naviera SA/Aeolos Management SA • Diana Shipping Inc • Leon and Aspasia Lemos Charitable Foundation Leadership in World Shipping

Greek Family Firms in International Business

Ioannis Theotokas University of the Aegean, Greece and Gelina Harlaftis Ionian University, Greece © Ioannis Theotokas and Gelina Harlaftis 2009 English Translation © Alexandra Doumas 2009 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-57642-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

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First published in Greek 2004 by ELIA and 2007 by Alexandria English translation published 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

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10987654321 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 To Professor Basil Metaxas, who set his seal on both our careers Contents

List of Figures x List of Tables xi Terms and Abbreviations xii Acknowledgements xiii Preface to the English Edition xvi

Introduction 1 Part I SHIPOWNERS, FIRMS AND SHIPPING 9 Chapter 1 International Freight Markets and Greek-owned Shipping, 1945–2000 11 1.1 The division of freight markets 12 1.2 World seaborne trade 13 1.3 The international fleet and freight markets 16 Chapter 2 Greek-owned Shipping Companies 29 2.1 Greek-owned shipping companies 29 2.2 The size of shipping companies 31 2.3 The fragmentation of shipping companies 38 2.4 The economic background of ‘non traditional’ shipowners 41 2.5 The business philosophy of Greek shipowners 44 2.6 Family firms 46 Inset 1: Safety at sea 51 Chapter 3 Strategies of Greek Shipping Companies 53 3.1 Cost leadership and competitiveness 54 3.2 Choice of flag and maritime labour 57 Inset 2: Greek seamen 61 3.3 Innovation and competitiveness 64 Inset 3: Competition and specialization: the case of the Lascarides Group 66 Inset 4: Costamare: at the peak of the container-ship market 67 3.4 The investment strategy of Greek-owned shipping businesses 68 Chapter 4 Greek and British Shipping Companies 76 4.1 Network and family 76 4.2 Organizational and managerial patterns 77 4.3 Entrepreneurial methods 88

vii viii Contents

Chapter 5 Shipping Companies, the Economy and the State 92 5.1 Shipping capital and the Greek economy 92 5.2 The maritime centre 96 5.3 The Greek state and shipping 98

Part II FAMILY SHIPPING BUSINESSES 101 1. Agoudimos 35. Epifaniades 2. Alafouzos 36. Eugenides 3. Alexandratos 37. Fafalios 4. Anastasiou 38. Frangistas 5. Andreadis 39. Frangos 6. Andrianopoulos 40. Georgilis 7. Angelakis 41. Georgopoulos 8. Angelicoussis 42. Giavridis 9. Angelopoulos 43. Glyptis 10. Apodiakos 44. Golden Union Group 11. Bacolitsas (Andreadis–Veniamis–Gavriil) 12. Bodosakis-Athanasiadis 45. Goulandris 13. Callimanopulos 46. Goumas 14. Cambanis 47. Gourdomichalis 15. Carras 48. Gratsos 16. Caroussis 49. Gregos 17. Catsogiorgis 50. Hadjilias 18. Chandris 51. Halcoussis 19. Comninos 52. Hadjioannou, Loukas 20. Constantopoulos 53. Hadjioannou, Vasos 21. Cotzias 54. Hatzipateras 22. Coulouthros 55. Inglessis 23. Coumantaros 56. Kallikis 24. Coustas 57. Karageorgis 25. Daifas 58. Kedros 26. Dalacouras 59. Kollakis 27. Dambassis 60. Kollintzas 28. Diamantis 61. Konialidis 29. Dracopoulos 62. Kulukundis 30. Economou 63. Kyriakou 31. Efstathiou 64. Kyrtatas 32. Efthimiou 65. Lai(e)mos 33. Eletson Group (Karastamatis, 66. Latsis Kertsikoff, Hadjieleftheriadis) 67. Lekanidis 34. Embiricos 68. Lentoudis Contents ix

69. Leventakis 106. Polemis 70. Li(y)gnos 107. Ponticos 71. Livanos 108. Potamianos 72. Logothetis 109. Pothitos 73. Los 110. Roussos 74. Lykiardopulos 111. Samonas 75. Lyras 112. Sarlis 76. Mamidakis 113. Scoufalos 77. Marcantonakis 114. Sigalas 78. Marchessini 115. Sitinas 79. Markou 116. Soutos 80. Margaronis 117. Stafylopatis 81. Martinos 118. Stathatos-Zavos 82. Matsas 119. Stravelakis 83. Mavrakakis 120. Symbouras 84. Mavroleon 121. Tattos 85. Methenitis 122. Theocharidis 86. Michalos 123. Theodoracopoulos 87. Moundreas 124. Theodoridis 88. Mouskas 125. Tricoglou 89. Negro(e)ponte 126. Tsakiroglou (Tsakiris) 90. Niarchos, Stavros 127. Tsakos 91. Nicolaou 128. Tsangaris 92. Nomikos 129. Tsavliris 93. Onassis, Aristotle 130. Tsikopoulos 94. Paleokrassas 131. Tzanetatos 95. Palios 132. Vardinoyannis 96. Panayotidis 133. Vatis 97. Papachristidis 134. Venizelos 98. Papadakis 135. Ventouris 99. Papadimitriou 136. Vergottis 100. Papageorgiou 137. Vernicos 101. Papalios 138. Vlassopulos 102. Pappas 139. Voyazides 103. Pateras 140. Xylas 104. Peraticos 141. Yannagas 105. Pittas 142. Zacharis

Appendix: Greek Family Shipping Businesses Active 1945–2000 321 Notes 330 Sources 334 Index 343 List of Figures

1.1 World trade, 1948–2000 16 1.2 World fleet, 1950–2000 23 2.1 Organizational model of Greek-owned shipping enterprises 30 4.1 The tramp shipping company 78

x List of Tables

1.1 World seaborne trade, 1948–2000 14 1.2 The composition of the world fleet, 1950–2000 18 1.3 Development of freight-rate indices by voyage, 1969–1990 25 1.4 The largest fleets, 1970–2000 27 1.5 The ten largest maritime powers in terms of actual ownership, 2000 27 2.1 The top ten Greek shipowning groups, 1938–2000 33 2.2 Number and average fleet capacity of Greek-owned shipping companies 35 2.3 Percentage distribution of Greek-owned shipping companies on the basis of the size of their fleet 35 2.4 The average age of ships in years by category of company size (1969–1990) 36 2.5 Shipowning families with more than 30 years’ activity in the international freight markets, 1945–2000, and their fragmentation 39 2.6 Shipowning families with more than 30 years’ activity in international freight markets, 1945–2000 42 2.7 Professional origin of ‘non-traditional’ shipowners with more than 30 years’ activity in international freight markets, 1945–2000 43 3.1 Greek-owned fleet and fleet under the Greek flag (1949–2000) 59 3.2 Indicative returns of buying and selling ships by Greek shipowners 73 4.1 The largest British tramp-shipping businesses: 1910, 1939, 1970 82 4.2 Places of origin of Greek shipowning families, 1914, 1939, 1975 83

xi Terms and Abbreviations

Aframax Ships of carrying capacity 70,000–100,000 dwt BC Bulk carrier Capesize Ships of carrying capacity from 80,000 dwt to more than 200,000 dwt dwt Dead-weight tonnage grt Gross registered tonnage nrt net registered tonnage Handysize Ships of carrying capacity 18,000–30,000 dwt Handymax Ships of carrying capacity 30,000–50,000 dwt LNG Liquid natural gas tanker LPG Liquid petroleum gas tanker OBO Ore bulk oil carriers Panamax Ships of carrying capacity 50,000–70,000 dwt, allowing passage through the Panama canal Reefer Refrigerated cargo carrier Suezmax Tankers of carrying capacity 100,000–200,000 dwt, allowing passage through the Suez canal teu Twenty-foot equivalent unit TSH Tanker ship Tweendeckers Cargo ships with double decks, able to carry more than one type of cargo VLCC Tanker ships of carrying capacity 200,000–300,000 dwt ULCC Tanker ships of carrying capacity of more than 300,000 dwt

xii Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the Stavros S. Niarchos Founda- tion and its president Constantinos Dracopoulos for the direct support and funding for the research of this book, while sincerest thanks are also due to Epameinondas Pharmakis. Our warm thanks also to the Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive (ELIA) and its president Manos Haritatos for entrusting to us the creation of this volume, first published in Greek. Without the contribution and the collaboration of the families presented in this volume, the final result would have been far different. We are espe- cially grateful to the following people for giving their time and information: Ioannis Angelakis, Katerina Angelaki, Constantinos Angelopoulos, Nina Angelopoulou, Gerasimos Agoudimos, Aristeides and Ioannis Alafouzos, Spyros Alexandratos, Georgios Alexopoulos, Ioannis C. Aloupis, Othon Anastasiou, the Andreadis family, Jini Andrianopoulou, Charalambos Anni- nos, Ioannis Aretaios, Yorgos Arnaoutis, Yorgos Afentoulis, Vasilis and Rebecca Bakolitsas, Grigoris Callimanopulos, Leonidas Z. Cambanis, Irene Pontikou-Carra, Constantinos I. Carras, Petros Carras, Christos I. Carras, Constantinos Caroussis, Panagis Chadoulis, Dimitrios Chalkiadas, the Chan- dris family, Nikos Cotzias, the Coumantaros family, Yannis Coustas, Georgios Dalakouras, Irene Dambasi, Ioannis Diamantis, Vasileios Douzinas, Ioannis Dracopoulos, Anna Dracopoulou, Maria Fafaliou-Pantelidou, Epameinondas Embiricos, Loukas and Charalambos Fafalios, Stamos I. Fafalios, Nikolaos Fistes, Marcos Foros, Nikos and Marily Frangistas, Marcos I. Frangos, Nikos Frangos, Georgios Gavriil, Marios Georgiou, Constantinos Georgopoulos, Ioannis Giannakopoulos, Ioannis Giavridis, Costas Glyptis, Gikas and Ioan- nis Goumas, Ioannis V. Goulandris, Drakoulis and Stathis Gourdomichalis, Aliki Rizopoulou-Gourdomichali, Georgios and Constantinos Gratsos, Hypa- tianna Halkousi, Athanasios and Charalambos Haralambidis, Katerina Hari- tatou, I. C. Hatzipateras, Pollys L. Hadjioannou, Pollys V. Hadjioannou and Nikos Hondos, Noni Iatrou, Nikolaos Inglessis, Antonis Kakkaras, Ioakeim Kallikis, Anna Kanellaki, D. Karamadoukis, Ioannis Karastamatis, Ourania Katsikari, Alexandros Kedros, Tryphon Kollintzas, Costis Kertsikoff, Anas- tasia and Lou Kollakis, Antonios Komninos, Pythagoras Kozivas, Ilias M. Kulukundis, Stathis Kulukundis, Kyriakos Koutsomallis, Panayotis Koutsomi- topoulos, Minos Kyriakou, Andreas and Antonis Kyrtatas, M. S. Lazarimos, Constantinos Lascaridis, Nicholas S. Laimos, Panagos Laimos, Nikolaos Leventakis, Dimitris and Stephanos Lekanidis, Aspasia L. Lemos, Ioanna Lemos, Ioannis Diam. Lemos, Michael C. Lemos, Kriton Lentoudis, Peter Livanos, Yorgos Lignos, Ioannis G. Lignos, Michalis and Stelios Lignos,

xiii xiv Acknowledgements

Vasilis Logothetis, Epameinondas Logothetis, Alexandros Loverdos, Pho- tis Lykiardopulos, I. M. and I. C. Lyras, Marika Lyra, Matthaios D. Los, Erika and Lena Mamidaki, Diamantis Manos, Anastasis Margaronis, Spy- ros Marinakis, Eleni Markantonaki-Alexaki, Nikos and Fifi Marcou, Thanasis Martinos, Georgios Matsas, Stephanos Mavrelis, Ilias V. Mavroleon, Meletis Methenitis, Charalambos Metsis, Spyros Minas, Stavros Michailidis, Calliope Michalou, Gerasimos Molfetas, Natalia, Nikolaos and Charikleia Moundreas, the Mouskas family, Spyros Mousouris, Nicholas Negreponti, Kritos Neophy- tos, G. Nikitopoulos, G. N. Nikolaou, Dimitris and Nikos Nomikos, Calypso Nomikou, Georgios Paleokrassas, Simos Palios, Gavriil Panayiotidis, Vasilis Papachristidis, Ilias Papageorgiou, Nikos Papadimitriou, Yorgos Papadopou- los, Marina Papadopoulou, Nikolaos Papalios, Annika Papantoniou, N. A. Pappadakis, Georgios M. Pateras, Diamantis Pateras, Michalis G. Pateras, Nikolaos Pateras, Stephanos Pateras, Costas and Michalis Peratikos, Aristeidis Pittas, Ioannis Platsidakis, Spyros Pothitos, Anna Alisafaki-Polemi, Dimitrios Polemis, Spyros M. Polemis, Costas Poutous, Georgios and Iakovos Rous- sos, Michalis Sarlis, Rena Sepetis, Ioanna Serbezi, Iakovos Seferiadis, Yorgos Sigalas, Ioannis Sigalas, Vasilis Sitaras, Nikolaos Sitinas, Niobe Skourleti, Pantelis Scoufalos, Ilias Spyrou, Nikolaos Soutos, Susy Sofikiti, Zacharias Stamatakis, Katerina Stamatiadi, Dimitris Stravelakis, Becky Stravelaki, Dim- itrios Sybouras, Alcibiades Tattos, Aris Theodoridis, Dimitrios Theocharidis, G. Thravalos, G. Tzanetatos, Aliki and Vasilis Tricoglou, Nikos Tsavliris, Panayotis Tsakos, Pavlos Valae, Valentios Valentis, Theophilos Vatis, Ioan- nis Velissarios, Lily Venizelou, Charalambos Ventouris, Nikolaos Vergottis, Kitty Vergottis, Nikolaos Vernicos, Ioannis and Nikolaos Vlassopoulos, Con- stantinos Vlachos, Leonidas Voyatzidis, Iris and Costas Xanalatos, Ioannis A. Xylas, Katerina Xyla, Michalis Xyla, Matrona Xyla-Egon, Yannis Yannagas, Othon Zavos, Zacharias Zacharis, Emmanuel Zografidis. We are particularly grateful to the indefatigable Nestor of shipping jour- nalism, Efstathios Batis, not only for his invaluable help with this project but also for sharing with us over the past years his enthusiasm and his pro- found knowledge of Greek shipping, as well as his positive response to every scholarly research endeavour. Warm thanks are expressed to Dimitrios G. Pateras for his assistance in relation to Oinoussian shipping, as well as for providing material from his archive. Also valuable was the contribution of the collector Yannis Tsatsas, who not only provided photographs but also information about the London , for which we thank him sincerely. In order to complete the research and the publication of this volume a team of researchers worked hard behind the scenes. Christophoros Dermatis and Aimilia Papachristou, graduates of the Department of Shipping Trade and Transport of the University of the Aegean, were truly pillars of the project and we thank them warmly for their conscientiousness and efficiency. Eleanna Acknowledgements xv

Vlachou proved once again a reliable and creative collaborator. Decisive and invaluable throughout the undertaking was the contribution of Helen Beneki. Last, we feel the need to thank our families, who have put up with our token presence during the writing and rewriting of the book: Eleni, Sophia and Nikos, Dimitri, Cressida and Nikos. Preface to the English Edition

This book is about Greek shipowning family firms. It provides insight into the path they followed which turned them into leaders in world shipping. Greek- owned shipping, that is, ships owned and/or operated by Greeks, increased from 1.5 per cent of the world fleet in 1947 to 17 per cent of the world fleet at the beginning of the 21st century. Greek shipowners have been identified with mythical tycoons who live on private islands and carry, for some, the glamour of hero entrepreneurs, and for others, mystery and a darker side of entrepreneurship. The ‘mystery’ surrounding shipowners is perhaps intensified by the fact that the ‘float- ing factories’, the ships, are invisible to those on land and it is easy for the ignorant to associate them with scandal and fraud. There is a ‘silence’ about shipowners, not only among Greeks, but among English speakers too, who write about their own shipping enterprises that ‘shipping is a very private business’ (Green, 1985). This is because the shipping business, whether in in Greece, Glasgow in Scotland or Bergen in Norway, was and mostly is a family-owned and controlled business – and the family is a private affair. There is no mystery that Greeks became, and still are, leaders in the world shipping business in the second half of the 20th century. This book identifies contemporary Greek shipping companies and presents a view from the inside as well as key explanations for the industry’s success. The book is the result of a research programme funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation during 2001–3, which included about 200 interviews and set up a database of 25,000 Greek-owned ships over the post-Second World War period. The first results were published in a volume in 2004 in Greek by the Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive – a publication that was soon sold out – and the book in its present form was published in Greek by Alexandria Publications in 2007. Greek family firms developed a common business culture and know-how in international sea transport. Greek families from the islands and port-towns of the Ionian and Aegean seas have been involved at least since the 18th cen- tury in the long-haul Mediterranean trade, becoming the main local carriers from the Mediterranean and to northern Europe in the 19th century (Harlaftis, 1996). In the 20th century they expanded into global activities, with most Greek shipping families carrying on a tradition of several genera- tions of knowledge of maritime business administration. New entrants, new shipping families, emerged from the shipping business itself, reproducing and expanding the international Greek shipping business. Greek-owned shipping has based its development on its human resources (Theotokas, 2007). It provides a unique example of a national

xvi Preface to the English Edition xvii entrepreneurship which has shown formidable dynamism on an interna- tional level in just one sector. What is impressive is that this group is not composed primarily of tycoons, but mainly of small and medium-sized fam- ily firms – its main strength – that share a common business culture and environment within a Greek international maritime business network. Research on this book finished in 2003. It was very difficult for us not to add or update either the changes that have taken place in the companies since then; or the bibliography that is booming on the theory of the firm and entrepreneurship and in business history. We have added just a few essen- tial works that have been published since, and have updated some family business histories where dramatic changes made it necessary to do so. We hope that this book provides some insight about the ‘mystery’ of the Greek success in world shipping and reveals some of the reasons as to why many Greeks think that ‘brine is in their blood’. I.Th–G. H. January 2009