TITLE:
The Business History of 23 Greek-Owned Shipping Companies: Evaluated by Management
AUTHORS:
Alexandros M. Goulielmos
KEYWORDS:
23 Business Histories of Greek-Owned Shipping Companies, The Explanations Given by Management, The 107 USA Liberty Ships “Lent-Leased” to Greeks in 1947, The Split-Up Syndrome, The Corporate Growth Strategies Applied, The Game of Assets
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.16 No.4,
April
14,
2025
ABSTRACT: We presented the business history, since 1850, of 23 Greek-owned multi-member family shipping companies, having no less than 6 sons, and coming mainly from a Greek island. Generation after generation, and up to six ones, Greek shipowners fought—but defeated—by a premature death as well by a depression, although they have built-up a successful shipping tradition. We saw shipping companies to establish up to 10 additional ones, and some to act as ship-owners’ schools and almost all to open offices in NY, Piraeus and London, indicating their destiny to become global cross-traders one day. We also saw the frequent split-ups by—almost all companies—and the courage of some to buy-over a shipyard, as well to play the “Game of Assets”. Luck, no doubt, one may say, favored Greek shipowners by providing to them 107 Liberty type of ships, in 1947: but this was just a serious opportunity, given that the 23 shipping companies presented, owned by more than 35 m dwt by 2000s. Taking-into account that, indeed, Greek shipowners were unhelped by Sciences, and thus had to use rules of thumb, we proposed to them a “statistical tool/the Regression Method” to analyze and forecast ships’ prices.