George Livanos

George P. Livanos (1926 to 1997), known as George Livanos, was a Greek shipping magnate, born in New Orleans to a family from Chios. After service in the United States Army Transportation Corps in Japan and Korea, where he was a sea captain on cargo ships, and an economics degree from the University of Athens, he founded Ceres Hellenic Shipping Enterprises in 1949. He soon inherited his father's fleet of thirty ships, which included the five largest supertankers in the world, and built it to more than a hundred vessels, the largest merchant fleet in Greece, managed from Lausanne. His ships kept the Greek flag rather than flags of convenience. He also created a company that pioneered fast hydrofoil ferry services between the Greek islands under the Ceres Flying Dolphins name, and later invested in real estate and banking. In 1982 he founded the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association. He left the business to his son Peter. This summary follows the English Wikipedia article.