To most people, the Golden Greeks are Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos, the argonauts who have built fortunes of $500 million each and cut a swath in international society. The two old rivals still struggle to outdo each other in size of fleet and fortune, and are now engaged in a fierce competition to win a Greek government contract to build a huge shipping and industrial complex. Though they get most of the publicity, they are only the two most conspicuous men in a large group of Greek shipping magnates, most of whom are known in nautical circles as the "other Greeks." While the Golden Greeks ardently seek publicity, the other Greeks shun it. Collectively, they have a far greater impact on world business than Onassis or Niarchos, and individually some have become about as wealthy —or even more so.
In all, Greek shipowners today possess the world's largest merchant fleet —3,065 ships totaling almost 25 million tons. As a group, they are the biggest spenders in the world's shipyards. More than 200 vessels, including 43 supertankers, are on order or being built for Greek owners. The Greeks set up shop wherever they can do business, in London, Manhattan, Lausanne or Beirut. They fly the most convenient flag —Liberian, Panamanian, Cypriot—but they remain Greek wherever they go. Their enterprise has been a major force in lifting the postwar economies of shipbuilding nations. In British shipyards alone, the Greeks now account for 25% of all orders.
The 40 Families. The other Greeks ' are members of about 40 old maritime families that intermarry and expand their power in the fashion of Europe's royal dynasties. Almost all of them come from the rocky Greek islands. The neighboring islands of Chios and Inoussai, for example, have produced such shipping families as Lemos, Kulukundis, Pateras, Carras, Papalios—who collectively own more than one-third of Greek shipping. Nothing grows on these rough islands, and the only way to make a living is to go to sea. Traditionally, boys begin as sailors and send their wages back to the island to feed the family. If enough sons go to sea, the family may eventually save enough money to buy an old boat and members of the clan man the vessel. If the ship makes money, the family buys another, then another. Most Greek shipowners started out this way and now send their young sons to sea between terms at schools in Europe and the U.S.
Part of the reason for the Greeks' success is that they have been willing to begin by using old, rickety ships. The Greeks were also helped by the U.S. Government, which, aiming to revive Greece's merchant marine after World War II, sold them 100 Liberty ships on easy credit terms. Many of the ships were delivered just before the Korean War sent freight rates soaring. Later, in the wake of the 1956 Suez crisis, the Greeks were among the first to order supertankers, which cut costs on the long trip around the Cape. The investment has paid handsomely, and the shipowners have also benefited from the general expansion in world trade.
Among the leading fleet owners: