Basil Goulandris founded the shipping company `Greek Line´in 1939. The first ship he bought was the second-hand vessel `Nea Hellas´. It was this ship the company deployed for the first transatlantic voyages. After the Second World War, the company bought more ships. `Alexander Stephen & Sons´ secured the company’s first order to build a new ship in 1951. This ship, the `Olympia´, went on its maiden voyage in 1953. It was the only new ship of `Greek Line´ then.
In the 60s the passenger line services had been suffering major setbacks because passenger air traffic had been increasing at the same time. Consequently, `Greek Line´ began offering increasingly cruises. A blow of fate brought the company into the global headlines: A fire blast aboard the cruise ship `Lakonia´ resulted in the deaths of 128 people in 1963. Financially speaking, the company once again had to see rough seas ahead at the beginning of the 70s. With Basil Goulandris’s demise, the financial collapse became yet more imminent. In 1975 the final curtain fell on this company’s performance. The last two vessels, the `Queen Anna Maria´ and the `Olympia´ were sold. Lovers of historical postcards just love to collect pictures of these ships on historical postcards.
