[180221.EN.SEA] Shipping Industry Pioneer Christos N Kritikos Dies At 95

 

THE shipping industry has lost one of its pioneers from the golden era of containerisation, as Christos N Kritikos passed away on January 31 at home with his family at his side, reports the American Journal of Transportation.

Mr Kritikos died at 95. Born in Greece on the island of Andros, Mr Kritikos was raised in Athens before arriving in the US in 1947 after World War II as a merchant marine.

He found a job working for an east coast stevedore in 1954, moving to Chicago to start his own stevedoring company.

The late 1950s was a time when the St Lawrence Seaway was opening up, as it presented a lucrative business opportunity. Mr Kritikos recognised the potential, where he founded Ceres Terminals Incorporated.

After opening in 1959, Ceres picked up over 50 per cent of the total grain volume in Chicago. Ceres expanded to Duluth, Milwaukee and Toledo. By 1962, Ceres opened a Canadian operation at Montreal and quickly became one of its largest stevedoring companies.

In 1979, Ceres expanded to the Port of Baltimore with the company expanding to Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans and Houston shortly after.

Ceres became a container operator in Montreal Atlantic Container Line as its first container customer. Ceres also signed a 20 year lease with the Halifax Port Authority and secured 55 per cent of the ports volume in the first year of operation.

Mr Kritikos moved the corporate headquarters from Chicago to Weehawken, New Jersey in 1988 so he could be closer to his customers.

Ceres continued to expand internationally, and was purchased by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) in 2002.

"Our industry has lost one of its most memorable and unique individuals. He was a colorful soul full of ambition and drive and the nerve to pull his vision off. Using his progressive vision and outsized personality, Chris built a small Chicago-based start- up company into one of the leading stevedoring and terminal operators in North America. His is a true American success story. The industry will miss him," said past Ceres Terminals CEO Thomas Simmers.

Source : HKSG / Photo : The Maritime Executive.