On the occasion of the 90 years of Naftika Chronika, the historic maritime magazine presented significant maritime personalities who regularly wrote articles that were hosted in its pages.
Costas Michael Lemos (1910-1995), born on an island with a rich maritime tradition, such as Oinousses, could not stay away from the sea. During his lifetime he emerged as one of the most important figures not only of Greek but also of international shipping.
Graduating from Athens Law School, he got a job on one of his family’s ships and within just four years had become a captain. In 1937 he settled in London, where he founded the company Lyras and Lemos, together with his cousins Markos and Costas Lyra. The outbreak of the Second World War will bring him to New York, where together with Manolis Kouloukoudis they deal with shipping.
At the end of the war he will buy one of the famous 100 Liberties, which were allocated to Greek shipowners after the end of hostilities. The C. M. Lemos company, which he founded in London, would become the center of his activities.
He distinguished himself as one of the pioneers of Greek shipping in the 20th century, whose main strategy throughout his business career was the construction of new ships. As part of this strategy, he focused on numerous newbuild orders in Japanese, American and European shipyards in the 1950s. An important pioneer was the construction of ships in Japan, whose bridge was at the stern rather than in the middle of the ship, as the other Greek shipowners had preferred until then. He was also an innovator in the management of vessels carrying different cargoes such as OBOs.
Through the careful management of his ships, Costas M. Lemos created one of the leading Greek shipping companies. From five ships of 50,000 tons in 1954, he reached 46 ships of 1,000,000 tons in 1965. He saw new technologies as an integral part of the merchant shipping industry, and thus, gathering around him the most capable partners, supported the construction and design of innovative in ship technologies.
Costas M. Lemos was one of the most successful and well-known shipbuilders of his time. He was internationally regarded as a shrewd businessman, as evidenced by the fact that he sold most of his fleet before the great shipping crisis of 1981. Despite his vast fortune and his presence in New York, London and Lausanne, he remained aloof out of the public eye, loyal to the principles of the Greek family maritime business.
The constant and systematic presence of Costas M. Lemos as a member of the Union of Greek Shipowners and also of the Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee in London for a number of years proved his dedication to Greek shipping. Indeed, many of his benefits were never announced. An ardent and practical supporter of public maritime education, he was a great supporter of the country’s Merchant Marine Academies, while he was of the opinion that Greek sailors should be as informed and qualified as possible in order to “compete” with their colleagues from abroad.
He also expressed this opinion in the pages of Naftika Chronika magazine. From 1957 to 1983, twelve of his articles were hosted in the magazine, in which one can follow the evolution, the activity and the concerns of the Greek navy, through the eyes of one of its most important representatives.
More info can be found (in Greek) here.
