20 Years Ago - Mike Salthouse

Twenty years ago – in the days before satnav – I added to the 90,000 miles already on the clock of my little white BMW hatchback and drove from Newcastle to Piraeus to join Anna Sarafidou, John Owen and Antonia Christoforidis in establishing North’s Piraeus office at No. 2 Iasonos Street. Until that point Iasonos Street had belonged to our correspondents Marlin Agencies, run by Captain Linardatos who in 1984, introduced the first significant amount of Greek tonnage to the Club. Since that time the Greek Membership had grown steadily and by 2000, we were ready to build on this success and establish a permanent presence in Greece.

On the way into Athens I vividly remember passing the anchorage at Elefsina; vessels resting at their moorings for as far as the eye could see and only at that point did the enormity of our undertaking really become apparent.

Greece is shipping. Within a few square miles is contained the world’s largest shipping community with all its associated service industries – banks, lawyers, average adjusters, surveyors and of course P&I clubs. For a few magnificently happy years my wife and I were part of that community, welcomed into the family of shipping, forming friendships which have lasted throughout my professional life.

Twenty years later under the leadership of Tony Allen the office has enjoyed growth and success matched only by the that of the Club as a whole. The combined Greek Membership today exceeds the size of the whole Club when we opened. But notwithstanding this growth I am struck by how much remains the same. As a Club we have been privileged to enjoy the support of many of Greece’s most successful shipowners. Most of the shipowners who welcomed the Club to Piraeus twenty years ago are still Members today. Those relationships mean that we can look forward with confidence. The Club and its Members in Greece have never been stronger.