Epirotiki Lines
| Epirotiki Lines
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | |
| founding | 1850 |
| resolution | 1997 |
| Reason for dissolution | Merger with Sun Lines to form Royal Olympic Cruises |
| Seat | Piraeus , Greece |
| Branch | shipping |
The Epirotiki Lines was one in Piraeus -based shipping company , which was founded in the 1850th Initially only active in coastal shipping, the company grew in the 1960s to become one of the largest providers of cruises in Greece . In 1995 Epirotiki merged with Sun Lines to form Royal Olympic Cruises .
history
The Epirotiki Lines was founded in 1850 by Anastassios Potamianos. In the first few years of its existence, the shipping company operated smaller coastal ships between the islands of Kefalonia and Brăila . After Potamianos' death in 1902, his nephew Giorgos Potamianos took over the company and expanded it in the years that followed. In 1916 the headquarters of Epirotiki Lines was moved from Brăila to Piraeus. In 1926 the steadily growing shipping company already owned fifteen passenger ships between 800 and 1,500 register tons .
During the Second World War , the port of Piraeus was largely destroyed by German air raids , with only one ship from Epirotiki surviving the war. At the end of the war, most of the Greek coastal fleet was destroyed.
As part of the Italian reparation for Greece, two cargo and four passenger ships were built at Italian shipyards. The four passenger ships were named after revolutionaries of the Greek War of Independence : Miaoulis ( IMO 5233810), Kanaris (IMO 5180996), Karaiskakis (IMO 5180996), Kolokotronis (IMO 5191892). The Kolokotronis was built in 1952 at the Cantieri Navali di Taranto shipyard .
The first three were delivered to the shipping company Petros M. Nomikos Ltd in Piraeus and the Kolokotronis (middle name: Giorgos Potamianos ) to Epirotiki . They served on various routes in the Aegean and Adriatic Seas . The Kolokotronis went to the shipping company George Kousouniades in 1971 and operated under the name Achilles until it was scrapped in Eleusis in 1984 .
After the end of the war, the shipping company concentrated on cruises in the Aegean Sea . For this purpose, used tonnage from various countries was bought up and modernized. After further acquisitions in the 1960s and 1970s, Epirotiki grew to become the largest cruise line in Greece. Since the 1980s, the shipping company has also operated several cargo ships and tankers separately from the cruise business.
In the early 1990s, Epirotiki took over three ships from Carnival Cruise Lines and Costa Crociere , after the shipping company had lost three of its ships (the Jupiter in 1988, the Pegasus in 1991 and the Oceanos in 1991) due to accidents in the previous years . In 1994, Pallas Athena, which had only been bought two years earlier, was destroyed by fire.
In 1995 Epirotiki merged with the Greek Sun Lines to jointly found the new shipping company Royal Olympic Cruises. Some of the shipping company's ships were managed by Epirotiki until 1997, when they also went to Royal Olympic Cruises. Royal Olympic Cruises then existed for another seven years and was dissolved in 2004.
Cruise ships
| year | Surname | tonnage | shipyard | Status / fate |
| 1953 (1935) | Semiramis | 2,269 GRT | Harland & Wolff , Belfast | formerly Calabar , scrapped in 1980 |
| 1960 (1930) | Hermes | 5,251 GRT | Fairfield Shipbuilders , Govan | formerly Princess Joan , scrapped in 1974 |
| 1960 (1930) | Pegasus | 5,251 GRT | Fairfield Shipbuilders, Govan | Formerly Princess Elizabeth , sold in 1973, scrapped in 1976 |
| 1964 (1929) | Argonaut | 4,007 GRT | Germania shipyard , Kiel | formerly Orion , sold in 1996, scrapped in 2004 |
| 1966 (1965) | Jason | 3,963 GRT | Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone | Formerly Eros , sold to Royal Olympic Cruises in 1997, scrapped in 2009 |
| 1967 (1937) | Odysseus | 4,302 GRT | Harland and Wolff , Belfast | Formerly Leinster , sold in 1976, scrapped in 1980 |
| 1968 (1952) | Orpheus | 3,813 GRT | Harland & Wolff, Belfast | formerly Irish Coast , sold in 1981, sunk in 1989 |
| 1968 (1948) | Theseus | 4,088 GRT | Harland & Wolff, Belfast | formerly Munster , 1969 Orpheus , 1996 to Royal Olympic Cruises, scrapped in 2000 |
| 1970 (1961) | Jupiter | 6,306 GRT | Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne, Nantes | formerly Moledet , sunk in 1988 |
| 1971 (1955) | Neptune | 2,402 GRT | Aalborg Værft , Aalborg | formerly Meteor , launched in 1994, scrapped in 2002 |
| 1972 (1951) | Atlas | 9,114 GRT | Wilton-Fijenoord , Schiedam | formerly Ryndam , sold in 1988, dropped in 2003 |
| 1976 (1953) | Oceanos | 7,554 GRT | Forces Et Chantiers De La Gironde, Bordeaux | formerly Jean Laborde , sunk in 1991 |
| 1976 (1956) | Hermes | 2,174 GRT | Brodosplit , Split | formerly Jugoslavija , sold to Royal Olympic Cruises in 1997, scrapped in 2011 |
| 1977 (1966) | Homeric Renaissance | 11,724 GRT | Chantiers de l'Atlantique , Saint-Nazaire | formerly Renaissance , 1978 World Renaissance , sold in 1995, scrapped in 2010 |
| 1984 (1975) | Pegasus | 13,275 GRT | Dubigeon Normandy, Nantes | Formerly Svea Corona , burned out in 1991, scrapped in 1994 |
| 1988 (1962) | Odysseus | 9,639 GRT | Soc. Espanola de Constr. Naval, Bilbao | Formerly Princesa Isabel , sold to Royal Olympic Cruises in 1995, scrapped in 2008 |
| 1991 (1973) | Apollo | 7,494 GRT | KK Usuki Tekkosho, Saiki | Formerly Wakashio Maru , sold in 1995, scrapped in 2014 |
| 1991 (1971) | Triton | 14,151 GRT | Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij , Rotterdam | Formerly Cunard Adventurer , sold to Royal Olympic Cruises in 1995, scrapped in 2014 |
| 1992 (1952) | Pallas Athena | 20,469 GRT | Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk | formerly Flandre , burned out and scrapped in 1994 |
| 1993 (1961) | Olympic | 27,284 GRT | Vickers-Armstrongs , Walker-On-Tyne | formerly Empress of Canada , Star of Texas 1994 to 1995 , 1995 to Royal Olympic Cruises, scrapped in 2003 |
| 1994 (1956) | Olympic | 25,516 GRT | Fairfield Shipbuilders, Govan | Formerly Empress of Britain , sold to Royal Olympic Cruises in 1995, scrapped in 2008 |
| 1994 (1966) | Homeric | 10,417 GRT | Union Naval de Levante SA, Valencia | formerly Juan March , sold in 1995, in service as Ocean Majesty |
Web links
- CVs of all cruise ships from Epirotiki on faktaomfartyg.se (Swedish)
- History of Epirotiki and Royal Olympic Cruises on fundinguniverse.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ferry Tales: Greek Coastal Service from 1945-1995 (Gallery)
- ↑ Kolokotronis: Passenger Accommodation Plan 1963
- ↑ M / V KOLOKOTRONIS - A was reparation vessel
- ↑ Christopher S. Wren: Owner of Lost Greek Cruise Ship Has History of Maritime Mishaps. August 7, 1991, accessed July 4, 2016 .