How a Greek Family From Chios Built the Biggest Private Shipping Empire on Earth
The Angelicoussis Group, one of the world's largest privately owned shipping companies, recently hosted a group of maritime students for an up-close look at how a global fleet actually runs. The visit gave students direct access to senior officers and executives who walked them through the realities of working in commercial shipping, from bridge operations to fleet management.
Captains Dimitris Fokas and Dimitrios Melas hosted the event, while Elena Sardi and Christos Kechris led a presentation focused specifically on developing the next generation of shipping leaders. The session covered practical approaches to building a career in the industry, not just theory.
Greece controls roughly 20 percent of the world's ocean-going fleet by tonnage.
Captains Konstantinos Strikos and Michalis Iatridis also took part, alongside Chief Engineer Giorgos Angelakis, each sharing firsthand professional experience with the students. The Angelicoussis Group controls a combined fleet of tankers, bulk carriers, and LNG vessels that ranks among the largest in private hands globally.
Events like this one sit at the center of how Greek shipping has sustained its dominance for generations. Greece controls roughly 20 percent of the world's ocean-going fleet by tonnage, and companies like Angelicoussis have long drawn from a pipeline of maritime academy graduates to fill officer and management roles. Connecting students directly with working professionals at this level is how that pipeline stays alive.
