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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Merchant Masters The Creek independence signed in 1830 liberated the national conscience and gave new impetus to the peoples nautical flair. Private initiative, slowly awakening after four centuries of Turkish domination, undertook the task of reviving the ship- ping industry, reaching a peak in the mid-19th century of 12,000 sailing ships with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes. Meanwhile a formidable adversary -- steam -- revolu- tionised all sea transport and proved a mortal blow for the sail- ing fleets. For the Creeks this moment of transition was critical. Their very existence as a maritime nation was threatened. Luckily, the majority of the islands realised the inevitable supremacy of steam and survived. The first creek steamer entering a Greek port in 1865 was welcomed as a victor by an armada ofsmall sailing boats decorated with laurels. Progress was steady. The First World War found the Greek merchant marine with 475 steamers. Despite devastating loss- es in that war, the creek fleet of the 30s ranked ninth in world tonnage. The Second World War, however, inflicted an almost fa tal blow on the Creek mercantile marine. It su ffered the hcav- lest penalty among the Allies with the loss of 72% of its fleet, leaving Greece with only 154 merchant ships in a lamentable condition. 2015 Greek seamen lost their lives in the I\llied cause and another 2500 were seriously injured or disabled. As for the Creek Navy, during the Creek epic 1940-41, when Greece victoriously defied Fascist italy until the Nazi invasion of April 1941, the fleet defended the motherland, suc- cessfully attacking the military sea transports of the italians. However, from then on, and just before the Axis occupation started, Grtreces fleet of 16 warships and a few submarines moved to naval bases in Egypt, Malta and the MiddJe East. Their single objective, the liberation of their enslavtld country, was achieved in October 1944. Let us now go forward to the years 1946-47. Years of free- dom won, but also of homes and hopes lost, of a crippled econ- omy. Emerging like a phoenix from the ashes and the shadows of despair, the creek shipowner stood up against all odds with resolution and tenacity to revive his rundown fleet In a Europe plunged into famine, ruin and death, the creeks turned to the only financial citadel still intact: New York. It was from the Wonder City that the Creek shipowner reconquered the sea. This was a field of enterprise that the Americans at that time regarded with distrust and even contempt:Real estate is safe, not the sea...how can we ever trust a floating mortgage? Despite this scepticism the Creek shipowner, wisely using insurance funds (though insufficient to cover the enormous war claims), but mainly relying on his confidence and faith in all matters of the sea, brought to the post-war world a new force, a breathtaking impetus which in ten years completely transformed the theories of marine transport and commerce and re-established his shipping reputation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Creek Shipowner For someone who had the privilege of personally living through the decisive decade 1947-57 in America, the echo of the Greeks triumph still resounds in my memory. As is well known the 100 Liberty-type ships that the American govern- ment generously sold to the Greeks with favourable loan terms, guaranteed by the Greek government to assist them in replac- ing their shipping losses, constituted the initial step towards the renaissance of the Creek merchant marine. From then on, progress proved irresistible. Like the small Creek army which in 1940-41 captured the worlds imagination with the first Allied victories, the few Creeks of New York became after the war the centre of international attention. America was discov- ering the Creeks, who became synonymous with shipowners. To appreciate the attributes of these modern-day argonauts, driven by the natural spur of their nautical instincts and strong business acumen, we must study the men themselves -- the men of the sea. Let us remember the late Stavros Livanos. In him lies our image of the great Creek shipowner. He is omnipresent; his headquarters are mobile; they move everywhere he goes, to his office, his home, on board ship, in the engine-room, at the ship- yard. He is the perfect representative, the ideal incarnation of the traditional Creek shipowner who ascended the shipping hierarc~y step by step as a seaman, an officer, a master, and at times an engineer, and finally as an owner. He knows each man individually. There is no affectation in his dealings; he talks with the same simplicity to the shipboy as to the Wall Street financier or banker. They saw Captain Stavros kiss a new ship before the launching; to him it was like the christening of a new-born baby. Every ship had her own individuality, her own luck and destiny. Livanos knew her from bow to stern, he cherished both her happy moments and her perils. He used to say:l have no money, I have ships. Like Stavros Livanos, a few likeminded men became the masters of the oceans, forerunners and inspirers of the art of maritime commerce. Aristotle Onassis, while strolling along Park Avenue in New York, confided to a friend the idea that a tanker could easily double or triple her loading capacity with almost the same crew and general expenses: the super-tanker was born. C.M. Lemos diversified his shipping empire in more than one field; the Goulandris group successfully linked ship- ping and finance. Stavros Niardhos, the most finance-conscious of shipowners, excelled at securing floating loans; his tankers were chartered by first-class charterers, financed by various institutions and guaranteed even before they were built with minimum cash funds and risks. It was Niarchos who built the then worlds largest tanker, of 108,590 tonnes deadweight capadty, the Manhattnn. I will never forget the day in 1960 when she triumphantly entered New York harbour. It was a day of celebration and we were all watching from our office window as she glided along the Hudson River beneath the Statue of Liberty, surrounded by a flotilla of tugs and other boats flying a multitude of coloured flags and sounding their sirens. For a Creek that fantastic sight was a moment of great joy and pride. In praising the shipowners, we must not forget the army of workers of the sea, nor their everyday labour on board the ships, those who, in Seferis verses,as the trees and the waves, accept the wind, the rain, the night and the sun, unshakeable in their changing course. Without these valiant Greek seamen, Greece would not have been able to reach its golden age of shipping. The continuity of the merchant marine spirit is based on the tight collaboration of shipowners and seamen. The resurrection of the Creek mercantile marine has been followed during the last three decades by a spectacular leap forward in terms of size, technical modemisation and efficien- cy. Today the Creek and Creek-owned (under various flags) merchant fleet amounts to more than 3000 vessels with a total cargo capacity of 126,128,362 deadweight tonnes. The Creek shipowning community today controls the worlds largest dry cargo and tanker fleet and has enhanced its quality by adapt- ing rapidly to new trends in seaborne transportation, ship- building, ship finance, insurance and other related services. As said by Dr N. Mikelis, a former Lloyds Register execu- tive,the maritime instinct, the astuteness and the direct involvement Creek owners have with their ships, have given them an advantage in efficiency by providing an inexpensive transport service. Thus, the economies of exporting and importing nations, as well as individual traders, charterers and suppliers of services are all benefitting by the presence of the independent Creek shipowner. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Lasting Tradition I have tried to outline the story of the Greek mariner through the centuries. Today at the peak of his achievement; he is the target of the media with talk about palaces, yachts and the high life. And yet, although his vision is the five oceans and his hori- zon the world, his thoughts come often to rest on that humble island of his forefathers where it all started. It was indeed from those insignificant, remote and mostly arid islands that simple yet wise men of the sea had com- menced their lifelong ventures. Father and sons, as master and crew, had embarked on the famil~s sailing boats and later steamers to seek a future the hard way. The vessels were aau- ally a floating home. There were also those who did not travel, but instead man- aged the family wealth from fi na ncia I centres such as Piraeus, Constantinople or London. Syros, Chios, Andros, Kasos, the Ionian Islands, Oinoussai and many others were the starting points from whence the Clreek merchant marine was destined to make at first modest and then giant steps. Our long voyage through the perilous but glittering pages of creek seafaring history comes to its end. Out imaginary ship is dropping anchor in its Port of rest. In the serenity of the sun- set, we hear the rhythmic creaking of the caiques and, further away, the regular heartbeat of the fishermens boats as they make their way to their fishing grounds. In the fading light of the day, we discern above the harbour a small windswept cemetery. Here are the graves of the sea-masters, the captains and the seamen, some impressive, others simple and unadorned. Here the Greek men of the sea lie at rest for eternity, over- looking the blue waves, facing that great sweet mother, mother and lover of men, the sea 4 Quotes 1 Rene Grousset, LHomme et Son Histoire 2 From the Odyssey, translated by Richard Lattimore 3 Rene Grousset, LHomme et Son Histoire 4 Swinburne, The Triumph of Time. Costas N. Hadjipateras, PhD, author and shipbroker, was the first President of the London Hellenic Society. 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