SHIPPING: Founder of Salamis Cruises, Vasos Hadjitheodosiou, dies aged 83

Vasos Hadjitheodosiou, founder and chairman of the Salamis Organisation, has died aged 83.

The company is the owner of the 700-passenger Salamis Filoxenia cruise ship, as well as a fleet of commercial vessels – the cargo Alasa and the RO/RO ferries Alexo and Akritas – operating mainly in the eastern Mediterranean, between ports in Israel, Cyprus and Greece.

Hadjitheodosiou, a refugee from Stylloi in Famagusta district, established the transport and travel company 60 years ago and named it after the ancient city of Salamis. Initially, he started with freight and clearing services and very soon expanded into the travel and leisure sectors, taking advantage of the demand for cruises holidays to Egypt, the Holy Lands and the Greek islands.

Vasos Hadjitheodosiou also set his sights on developing rural tourism in Cyprus and tried to bid for the purchase of the historic Berengaria hotel in Prodromos, for which he had a vision two decades ago to transform into a casino and resort.

Having relocated to Limassol after 1974, Hadjitheodosiou was active in the local Famagusta business chamber and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce (KEVE), as well as the Cyprus Chamber of Shipping.

CSC Director General Thomas Kazakos tweeted: “A pioneer of Cyprus shipping. He will always be in our memories.