EPIROTIKI LINES, Piraeus, Greece. Coaster

EPIROTIKI LINES
Modern Cruises in Ancient Worlds
Piraeus

Coaster.

Epirotiki Lines was founded in 1850 by Anastassios Potamianos as Byzantine Cross. In 1902 Giorgos Potamianos, nephew and heir of Anastassios, changed the company name to Epirotiki. By 1926 the company owned 15 passenger vessels. During World War II, Piraeus was destroyed by German air attacks on the city. Only one vessel was saved, the G. Potamianos, which was appropriated by the Allies. At the conclusion of the war Epirotiki began its revival with the acquisition of three ships, ushering in its modern era, and focused entirely on the cruise ship market and started round trip cruises operating in the Aegean Sea, Greek Islands and Eastern Mediterranean. In the 1970s Epirotiki became the largest cruise ship company in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. Epirotiki Lines reached South America in 1978 operating out of São Paulo to take advantage of the fact that Italian lines could not handle the number of tourists in the tropical summer high season. In 1995 Epirotiki merged its operations with Sun Line, creating a new company named Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, but the new company collapsed in 2005 and its ships were sold off.

Traveler's collection.