Greece lost one of its most famous shipowners this morning. Aristides Alafouzos died today in Athens aged 93. As well as owning shipping firms Kyklades Maritime and Glafki Maritime, Alafouzos was a newspaper proprietor, at the helm of one of the nation’s best-known titles, Kathimerini.
Born in Santorini in 1924, Alafouzos’s career was not initially in shipping. He set out as a civil engineer. Among his more famous constructions was the Astir Palace, the grand hotel that plays host to many of the biggest parties at the biennial Posidonia gathering.
Alafouzos entered shipping in 1964, and was a loyal supporter of the Greek flag throughout his shipowing career.
The current Kyklades fleet has four LR2s, five aframaxes and two suezmaxes trading plus two ships under construction in Japan.
Photo credit: ekathimerini.com