SPORT24 presents a profile of Marios Iliopoulos, who took over from Dimitris Melisanidis as owner of AEK. Among others, SeaJets’ strongest man has gathered media interest in recent years for coastal shipping and how he navigates public space.
Marios Iliopoulos AEK’s new owner, Dimitris Melisanidis announced in his announcementTaking ownership position of “Union”.
The 54-year-old shipowner, owner of SeaJets, has gathered media interest in recent years not only for his movements on coastal shipping, but also for how he moves in public.
In the shipping industry, everyone talks about the highly emotional way he approaches his activities, covered by a giant poster with a photo of his father, Panagiotis (Takis) Iliopoulos, that covers his offices in Prayas. 2022.
He usually doesn’t go around in a suit, but with a shirt or shirt outside his trousers, often wearing a hat, with long hair and a beard, not reminiscent of a classic sailor.
His profile
Marios Iliopoulos was born in 1969 to Panagiotis and Desboina. He is one of three males in the family. His other two brothers, Yannis (who passed away in 2017) and Antonis, who were initially involved in maritime shipping, sometimes decided to leave the field and handle hotel businesses in Santorini and Paro.
Marios Iliopoulos grew up in Chicago and went to Athens College. His father, Panagiotis, was involved in business and gold trading from a young age, where he emerged as one of the leaders in his field, while since 1988 he has been in passenger shipping and in 1989, together with his son Mario, he founded SeaJets.
businesses
SeaJets has the largest fleet of high-speed aircraft in Europe, it says. More than 29 passenger ships sail under its flag, most of them high-speed ships, connecting 50 Aegean islands and Crete.
SeaJets was awarded ‘Passenger Company of the Year’ by Lloyds at a special event for 2018.
In continuous operation during these years, the company continues to expand its fleet, which today consists exclusively of a state-of-the-art fleet of high-speed vessels, covering 400 port connections from Piraeus, Rafina and Crete to the Cyclades Islands. .
It should be noted that two more superyachts joined the Seajets fleet owned by Marios Iliopoulos a few months ago.
It should be noted that the two passenger-car ferry ships were built in 2007 at the Australian AUSTAL shipyard and have been operating on Turkish sea routes in recent years. These are “Osman Gazi 1” & “Orphan Gazi 1” owned by Turkish company IDO. Also, the said vessels are 87.85 meters long, 24 meters wide, have a speed of 37 knots and can carry 1,200 passengers and 225 vehicles.
As a reminder, in addition to the two high-speed ships, Seijtes recently acquired “Express Skiathos”. In the past months, the Greek shipowner also acquired “Champion JET3”, “Eurochampion Jet”, “Superstar II” & “Superrunner Jet II”.
With the addition of these ships, Marios Iliopoulos has become the largest private high-speed shipping company in Europe, setting the stage for its dominance in the Aegean.
Finally, it should be noted that Marios Iliopoulos also plans the operation of Seajets Cruises, a company with four cruise ships.
CSR activities
In terms of social action, as the company’s management said, Seajets has a lot to show for it. In the catastrophic fire at Mati, SeaJets along with Tera jet ship and its sailors rushed to the sea area and provided assistance to more than 700 people, rescuing them and transferring them to bigger ships. 500 children from fire affected families organized at Tera Jet.
From 26th July till the end of the 2018 season he offered 10% ticket by Terra Jet to Rafina port for reconstruction of houses in “Mati”.
Since 2016, it provides free transport by ambulance to hospitals in Attica for patients who declare permanent residence in the Cyclades, together with their companions.
In Santorini, as of August 31, 2018, he contributed to the collection of garbage on the island’s roads covering 55 km of road.
He donated a free Transas Navigational Simulator Classroom NTRO 5000 Ship Bridge Simulator to the Merchant Marine Academy in Asprobirgos.
ERC 2018 had a Greek livery sponsored by Seajets, whose logo adorned the race car of 2018 European champion Alexey Lukyanuk.
It sponsors groups such as Cyclades, Pannaxiakos, Phoenician Syros, Kymi in basketball and local activities such as the Mykonos Run, Folegandros Sunset Trail, Serifos Sunset Race and Cyclades Regatta.
