Andreas Potamianos, doyen of the Greek cruise industry whose company Epirotiki Cruises put the Mediterranean nation onto the cruising map, died on Friday aged 88.

Described by his peers as one of the “last greats of Greek passenger shipping”, Potamianos was born into a prominent Cephalonian shipowning family whose shipping roots stretched back to 1850.

Greek shipping minister Yiannis Plakiotakis described Potamianos as “one of the pioneering founders of modern Greek shipping”.