The founder of Samos Steamship Co., Dimitrios I. Inglessis, was born in Samos in 1837, the eldest son of Ioannis Inglessis, a prominent merchant of the island.

His rapidly evolving, highly successful, and multifaceted career began in 1854, at the age of 17. With capital provided by his father, he purchased sailing ships and established a shipping business, transporting goods to and from his native Samos, the Turkish coasts, and parts of mainland Greece. His contemporaries described him as versatile, patriotic, just, straightforward, daring, and courageous, as well as a tireless "captain" of every enterprise he chose to undertake. The wide horizon offered by the sea to Poseidon’s true children—since he often captained his own sailing ships—combined with his sharp mind and keen commercial instinct, enabled him to create a pioneering business group active in several fields of trade and industry, including leather tanning, tobacco production (the well-known INGLESSI cigarettes), and a model winery. The latter produced, until its requisition by Prime Minister Metaxas in 1939, the famous sweet Samian wines Anthemis, Nectar, and Vin Doux, drawing on Samos’s ancient winemaking tradition. Samian wines had been admired since antiquity for their superior quality and winemaking expertise, even as far back as the Ptolemaic era.

After a successful career spanning over fifty years, Dimitrios Inglessis passed away in 1907. His business group, covering shipping, trade, and industry, was inherited by his five sons—Stamatis, Ioannis, Nikolaos, Socrates, and Heracles—and renamed Sons of Dimitrios Inglessis Group.

The second generation, his sons, inherited the founder’s spirit and qualities. Restless and adventurous, they were considered remarkable travelers of their time. They lived between two continents in search of new opportunities: Socrates traveled via the Trans-Siberian Railway and settled for ten years in Japan; Ioannis settled in Odessa, Russia; while the other three remained based in their hometown of Karlovassi, Samos, maintaining the family’s business center.

In 1911, four years after their father’s death, the Sons of Dimitrios Inglessis turned their main focus to the rapidly developing sector of merchant shipping, having gathered investment insights from their travels. Their first acquisition was the 1891-built British steamship Red Jacket, renamed Dimitrios Inglessis in honor of their father. Among other uses, it transported Samian wine in barrels to France, taking advantage of the great demand for Samian Muscat, then (and still today) used as a base for champagne production. Three years later, they acquired another steamer, naming it Maroudio Inglessi after their mother.

After World War I, they expanded into cargo vessels and coastal shipping routes, improving communication between Samos, the Paronaxia islands, and the rest of Greece. During the interwar period, the family expanded further in shipping while also remaining active in leather tanning and winemaking. In passenger shipping, their fleet played a leading role in Greek coastal routes.

During World War II, most of their merchant and passenger fleet was lost. The group’s postwar shipping reconstruction began with the only surviving vessel, the cargo ship Dimitrios Inglessis, a name repeated many times in the family’s fleet in honor of the founder. Reconstruction took place abroad, as postwar Greece was gripped by civil war, which made business activity difficult. Thus, the family suspended its activities in Greece, including passenger shipping. In 1947, they acquired the Samos, one of the 100 Liberty ships offered by the U.S. to revive the decimated Greek merchant fleet. More Liberty ships and other wartime cargo vessels followed. The ships were managed under Frinton Shipbrokers Ltd., a new company established in London in 1951 and directed by Inglessis family members. In 1961, the group acquired its first tanker, a 1944-built T2 type, renamed Dimitrios Inglessis.

In 1964, Frinton Shipbrokers Ltd., together with Tharros Shipping Co. Ltd. and Tropis Shipping Co. Ltd., became a founding member of the pioneering Pegasus Ocean Services Ltd., with offices in London and representation in Piraeus through Pleiades Shipping Services. Pegasus brought together members of the Inglessis, Peraticos, Xylas, Andrianopoulos, and Lentakis families and operated for over 25 years. During this period—marked by major changes and crises in world shipping—Pegasus managed over 100 ships of various types, including 25 newly built Japanese vessels.

In 1991, the third generation—the descendants of the sons of Dimitrios Inglessis (Dimitrios, Hippocrates, and Georgios, along with their sons Stamatis, Antonis, Ioannis, and Nikolaos Inglessis)—withdrew from Pegasus and reactivated the historic name Samos Steamship Co.The new company, based in Piraeus with a London chartering office named Alberta Shipbrokers Ltd., began with a fleet of ten bulk carriers and tankers. In the mid-1990s, having successfully weathered the great 1980s shipping crisis, Samos Steamship Co. resumed investment, initially in second-hand bulk carriers and later in large tankers and OBOs (ore/bulk/oil carriers).

The fourth generation, led by Nikolaos G. Inglessis, Antonis D. Inglessis, and Ioannis H. Inglessis, oversaw a rapid fleet renewal in the early 21st century. Over 17 years, they took delivery of 36 high specification newbuilds—tankers and bulk carriers of various sizes—built in leading Japanese shipyards, continuing the family’s longstanding relationship with them.

In 2019, leadership passed fully to Antonis D. Inglessis and Ioannis H. Inglessis, with a fleet of 30 ships totaling 2.8 million dwt. After Nikolaos G. Inglessis departed to form his own company, Alberta Ship Management Ltd., the mother company continue with a fleet of 11 tankers and 10 bulk carriers (2.5 million dwt), further Japanese newbuildings were ordered: two suezmax and one aframax tanker for delivery in late 2021.

In January 2025, a new division created two separate companies: J.H.I. Steamship Co., led by Ioannis Inglessis, and Carlova Maritime Co., led by Antonis Inglessis, while Samos Steamship Co. continues operations with a smaller fleet. The two cousins, Ioannis and Antonis Inglessis, maintain their joint London presence through Alberta Shipbrokers Co., handling chartering for their respective new companies as well as the parent company.

This remarkable story began with an extraordinary man whose vision remained alive and became a guiding example for his successors and associates. His sharp insight, integrity, humility, patriotism, courage, industriousness, and honesty have always defined the Inglessis family and the parent company, Samos Steamship Co.

With the establishment of three new shipping companies, the Inglessis family continues to leave a strong mark on the shipping industry.

Thanks to this diversity, the Founder’s legacy remains intact and grows stronger with time, proudly passing the corporate torch to each generation’s most capable members, always transmitting the same values, determination, strength, passion for work, and love of the sea and shipping. In this way, the family ensures a unique, uninterrupted presence in shipping that now spans more than 150 fruitful and creative years.