Athina Martinou passed away at the age of 97. As it became known, the well-known shipowner breathed her last on Friday (11.10.2024).

Athina Martinou, known as “Nunou”, was one of the pioneers of shipping, while the shipowner always kept a low profile. He founded the shipping giant, Thenamaris Ships Management.

In 1971 she decided to deal with the management of her family’s ships and together with her sons Thanasis, Dino and Andreas, founded the company Thenamaris Ships Management, managing in 1975 to reach its fleet of 36 ships.

In 1991, Athena handed over the reins to her children. Thanasis Martinos left the company to create Eastern Mediterranean Maritime.

In 1997, Andreas followed his own path, and proceeded to establish Minerva Marine, leaving Dino at the helm of the parent company Thenamaris. Minerva is now taken over by Andreas’ son, Andreas junior, and at Thenamaris by Nikolas Martinos, son of Dinos.

She loved the sea and ships and was involved in ship management for more than 58 years.

In one of her stories, about how she fell in love with the sea, she said: “I am from Kefalonia, but the fact that I was born in Glyfada played a role in my love for the sea, and I used to watch the ships pass by and say to my friends: “We too will go sailing ” and we did. We were mad about it and we did it and the whole family had a blast.”

“In this effort, I was not alone. My husband was close to me from the first moment, but mainly it was my son Thanasis, who from the age of fourteen was doing statistics and writing down how many crew, what a ship needs. My husband, Ioannis Martinos, loved the sea. Thanasis, from the first discussion, was an active part of this effort. I wasn’t the driving force, but I was the person who could make the difficult, easy. When you want something, you can do it”, he had also mentioned.