COVER STORY
Had your family any connection with the sea? Though my parents are coming both from islands (Chios & Santorini respectively), they had no relation with any kind of a shipping profession. My personal desire to pursue a career at sea was very strong mainly for two reasons; the first one was purely economic and connected with my will to financially support my family (parents and two brothers); the second one was my personal deep seated yearning for the sea and the water element. When I finished the third class of the gymnasium, I decided to join the well-known ‘Archimedes’ private school for marine engineers in Piraeus. My parents tried to avert me from this so as not to lose their favored son, but, I enrolled in the program without their knowledge and consent, and thus, I started to attend classes in September 1962. “Archimedes” was an evening school; fortunately enough, I could find a job in a ship repair facility, since at that time, it was a prerequisite for anyone seeking official characterization as Apprentice Sea-going Engineer to be employed for at least 1180 days with mandatory contributions to the Greek Seamen’s Pension Fund. During the four years of my studies at Archimedes I had the opportunity to acquire practical experience in shipbuilding and ship-repair and maintenance works of hull & ship’s equipment. At that time many important Greek operators (such as: Orion, Lemos, Niarchos, Eugenides, and others) selectively supported trainees in order to keep track on them for future employment on their ships.
In this framework and after having graduated from Archimedes in 1966, I opted for “Orion & Global” established by the Goulandris’ brothers together with my later diseased close friend & best man Akis Tyraskis. Both of us were sent off to join the then super tanker S/T PARNIS (45000DWT) as apprentice engineers.
How difficult was life in those years? You can’t imagine. Instead flying over to France to catch the ship, we were shipped with the passenger vessel KOLOKOTRONIS from Piraeus to Italy and then via train to France. Unfortunately for us, we made a mistake in Italy and lost our connecting train, embarking for Germany!
We were though fortunate enough to timely realize our error, and were able to return on time so as to board the vessel in Lavera. In the years between 1966 and 1980 my general experience gained at sea and the constant professional company of hard working mariners in conjunction with my successive promotions-as a third, second and chief engineer-, made me come to the conclusion that my family needed me most in its immediate vicinity; thus, I have decided to try to establish myself professionally ashore. I had meanwhile married my wife in 1975 and in 1980 we have been blessed with two beautiful children Maria, and Argyris (my third son Dimitris was born later during my years in BV). Judging from my experience and in the light of the intervening developments, it is rather improbable for Greek shipping companies like that of those days- as for example Goulandris, Onassis, Lemos, Eugenides, Niarchos and a few more like them-, to reappear again, proba-
JUNE 2016 SHIPPING 9