Athenian society and the Hellenic Navy, champions of the vision of the Alexandrian merchant and yachtsman Antonios Emm. Benakis and their faith in the sea as a force of life and progress for the nation, laid the foundations for the development and promotion of yachting since 1934, when the Yacht Club of Athens was founded – later named the Royal Yacht Club of Greece and now the Yacht Club of Greece.
The year 1960 marks the beginning of the construction and operation, under the supervision of EOT, of a wider network of yacht supply stations for fuel and water in various locations in the country. The infrastructure for yacht harbours was initiated in 1963 with the construction of a Marina in Vouliagmeni, and continued according to a national plan. In 1961 the framework regulating the sailing of yachts (transit log) was inaugurated, and from 1976 the market for yacht chartering was also set in a legal framework.
From 1964 the Greek shipping companies of families Potamianos (Ipirotiki), Kavounidis, Chandris, Kieseoglou (Sun Lines) and Giannoulatos (ELMES) organized circular trips – “cruises” – to the Greek islands, linking them with ports in the Mediterranean.
Nikos Pagonis, Captain, Merchant Marine; GNTO Executive