The Company's roots lie in the mid 19th century, when Captain George P. Dracopoulos, from the island of Myconos in Greece, built the 280 ton barque 'Philadelphos' in a joint venture with grain merchant Ambanopoulos, who was based in the Sea of Azov. The first vessel to carry the name 'Empros' was a 2,418 grt steamship acquired by his son, Markos G. Dracopoulos, in 1914. The expansion into regular line activities was initiated in 1950 by George M. Dracopoulos, with the purchase of the s.s. 'Avance', which means 'forward' in English and translates into 'Empros' in Greek. Hence the name 'EMPROS LINES'. Since its establishment, Empros Lines has rapidly developed as a liner operator, a partial/full cargo shipment operator, forwarder and manager of a fleet of Bulk Carriers and General Cargo vessels.