GREEK shipowners were marking the passing of an era yesterday following the death of Stavros Niarchos, the shipping legend known for his flamboyant lifestyle and heated rivalry with fellow magnate Aristotle Onassis.
Niarchos, who died earlier this week in Switzerland after a long illness, was the last symbol, of a period in Greek shipping history when magnates wore white sailor suits, smoked Havana cigars, played poker and led personal lives as turbulent as the sea from which they made their fortunes.
This short, vigorous man amassed a fortune of $4 billion shipping crude oil around the world, and pioneered the supertanker, which made him one of the world's richest men.
He spent much of his life competing for fame and fortune with his arch rival Onassis, even marrying his former wife, Tina, in 1971.
Niarchos married four times and had three sons and two daughters. After attending Athens University, he joined the family shipping business and bought his first ship at 26.
While honorary naval attache with the Greek legation in Washington from 1944 to 1948, Niarchos had the idea of buying up surplus US liberty ships used during the second World War.
The closure of the Suez Canal during the Franco British Suez expedition against Nasser's Egypt in 1956, and later the Arab Israeli Six Day War in 1967 strongly boosted his oil tanker fleet.
After selling off an oil refinery which he finally gained control of after a titanic struggle with his rival Onassis, Niarchos retired to a villa in Switzerland, dividing his time between the sumptuous retreat and his yacht moored at Monaco.
In 1991 his health started to deteriorate, and he spent time in clinics in Austria and Switzerland. He was on a life support system for over six weeks before his death.
Unlike the last great shipping "mogul", the 30 or so Greeks who now control the world's largest merchant fleet prefer London, New York and Geneva to Monte Carlo and Corfu and remain discreet about their business dealings.
Each member of this elite group owns a fleet of at least one million tons. About 50 per cent of these ships bear flags of other countries most often Cypriot, Maltese or Panamanian.
The only living member of the Onassis Niarchos generation is Iannis "John" Latsis.
