Industry | Passenger Transportation Cruises |
---|---|
Founded | 1960 |
Founder | Antonios Chandris |
Defunct | 1996 |
Fate | Dissolved |
Headquarters | Athens, Greece |
Area served | Worldwide |
Subsidiaries | Celebrity Cruises |
Chandris Line was a Greek shipping company founded in 1960 by Antonios Chandris to operate ocean liners between Greece and Australia.[1] Initially the company also traded under the names Greek Australian Line, National Greek Australian Line and Europe-Australia Line.[2]
Following a period of expansion, in 1974 Chandris Line merged with Chandris Cruises[1]—a separate company founded in 1960 by Antonios Chandris' brother Dimitri Chandris to operate cruises in the Mediterranean[3]—to form Chandris Line Chandris Cruises. After 1977 the company concentrated solely on cruising and was rebranded Chandris Cruises.[1] In 1985 Chandris Cruises acquired Fantasy Cruises, and subsequently their North American operations were rebranded as Chandris Fantasy Cruises.[4] The company ceased trading in 1996.[5] The funnels of all of their ships were emblazoned with the Greek letter chi, the first letter of the name Chandris in Greek (Χανδρή). The chi acted as a logo for both Chandris and their subsidiary and ultimate successor, Celebrity Cruises.