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In 1893, on the Greek Island of Syros (Or Syra as it was then known), Nicholas D. Cotzias full of enthusiasm, love of the sea and ships, and little else opened a shipbroking office. The sign on the door read: N. D. Cotzias, Shipbroker, and that was the birth of our family Business. Syros, the capital of the Cyclades, had long been a focal point of shipping routes between Athens, Constantinople, Alexandria and other ports of the Levant.

During the first 50 years of the Greek state, the island’s trade flourished so greatly that it became the undisputed maritime centre of the country.

As the number of the shipowners and traders grew, so did N. D. Cotzias Shipping. The number of trusted clients were increasing and business was conducted on a casual and friendly manner, while having interesting long business lunches accompanied with the traditional Greek Ouzo and "mezedes" under the lovely hot Syros sun and majestic surrounding of Ermoupolis tavernas. That kind of business discussions made the relationship between Client/Broker a true lifetime trustworthy bond, and enabled Nico D. Cotzias to exclusively cater for all ship purchase or charter needs of what proved to be LIFETIME business FRIENDS.
Syros Island was the crossroads of the ship traffic of the Mediterannean. The opening of the Corinth Canal in 1893, changed the Ship routes and made Piraeus closer to the sea-lanes. Slowly this change was followed by most shipowners, be it sail or steam, who found that this port had more to offer.
There were 72 shipowners in Piraeus in 1905, 125 in 1910 and 156 by 1914, clearly showing the beginning of the growth of the Piraeus Maritime center.


	Following the trend, Nicholas D. Cotzias moved his office to Akti Miaouli in Piraeus in 1912, and there, opposite the customs-shed and right in the center of all port activity, the business continues to this day.

	Since our establishment back in 1893, we have put enthusiasm and dedication to build an up-to-date international Shipping Organization which is highly recognized among all members of the shipping family world-wide. Today we take pride in the results of our professional and yet very personal approach to Shipping and firmly raise our voice in stating that:
Our Piraeus - Akti Miaouli - Office	"Ships Are Our Business"
A large number of legible documents from those early days exist in our treasured archives, but one, dated 30^th October, 1898 is still discernible and interesting. It records the sale of the steamer “Fratelli Prinzi” of 959 GRT, built in 1881 as the “Queensferry”, The vessel was purchased by Captain Andreas Cosmas of Syra from her owners in Catania, Italy, and the document is in beautiful Italian handwriting.
	Our library traces its origin to the same year, 1898 when our firm, N. D. Cotzias received Greece’s first ever Lloyd’s Register Books. It is our pride to still hold every successive edition in our carefully preserved library, which is our office gem.
	(More details in our Photo Gallery section)

Late Nico J. Cotzias, as president of N. Cotzias Shipping Group, had in his very active career a great variety of interests in Shipping, which stretched beyond his own company and contributed greatly to the wellbeing of the Shipping Industry. He was a firm believer in the importance of meeting people and networking as a way to further business, he had been the founder and two-term Chairman of the board of Governors of the Hellenic Shipbrokers Association as well as one of the co-founders and for four-terms Chairman of the Piraeus Marine Club. As an active Past President of the FONASBA, and an active member of a wide variety of venerable shipping organizations, Nico J. Cotzias, in 1976, became the first Greek Member of the Board of Directors of BIMCO from 1975 to 1981 and Vice-President from 1981 to 1985.
Nico J. Cotzias’ distinguished shipping career was further acknowledged when, in 1994, he was presented by the Queen of England, with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for the long standing and hard earned contribution to the promotion of British-Hellenic Relations and for our firm’s services acting as Admiralty Agents to the Royal Navy.
Spanning 3 centuries now, this family ship-broking business has always offered efficiency, reliability and quality of service to all our longstanding friends/clients within the Shipping Industry.			The port of Piraeus - (Panoramic view)
Creating a name in Greek Shipping, which bares the efforts of hard work, honesty, and good service, has served us in good steed for the past century. However maintaining these standards and the quality of our organisation throughout the years, as it has always been our primary focus, enables us to stand up to the challenges of our days.
Our Family was always fond of technology, and always looking into new technological advantages that could enable us to always keep one small step ahead from our competing broker houses. Following the millennium computer boom, and while we needed to progress well into the 21st century we heavily invested in new IT proprietary systems that have been following all technological advances and programming progress. Our broking teams have the gained knowledge and efficiency and the industry's top of the line IT tools to be always there for YOU, with the right information, at the right time.

Our older generations had a motto: "be trusted" and this is something that we as their descendants try daily to keep as our number one rule.
Proof of this is our business longevity.

In memory of Nico J. Cotzias OBE