The role of Greek shipowners in the revival of northern European shipyards in the 1950s

Abstract

This chapter examines how Greek shipowners combined their entrepreneurial skills with American finance and European maritime expertise to become the world’s leading shipowners in the post-war period. Led by Aristotle Onassis, they were able to exploit opportunities in the United States in the 1940s and led the way in tanker shipping in post-WWII Europe. Greek shipowners created and consolidated the new institution of the global shipping company, paving the way for today’s ‘stateless’ maritime industry. The chapter analyzes the growth of the oil market and tanker shipbuilding by following the activities of one of the leaders of Greek and world tanker shipping, Aristotle Onassis, during the period 1948–1954. In the second part, we examine tanker shipbuilding by the Greeks, in particular by Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos, in German shipyards. Today, Greece is the leading country in terms of ownership of the world fleet, and this chapter shows how this became possible.