Greek shipowner Gerasimos Agoudimos has died in Lugano, Switzerland at the age of 76, his family has announced.
Agoudimos came from a shipping family of the Greek island of Kefalonia. He started his career as a seaman, quickly rose through the ranks of the mercantile navy and became a captain at an early age.
Together with his brother Dimitris and his brother-in-law Yannis Meletis he became a ship-owner in 1967.
According to legend, throughout his career he bought and sold more than 250 cargo and passenger ships.
Since 1988 when the two brothers and Meletis decided to go their own ways, Agoudimos concentrated on passenger ships.
His company G.A. Ferries had been active in Greek coastal shipping, with several passenger ferries sailing the Aegean routes, until 2009 when the company was declared bankrupt and the ferries were sold in auctions.