Shrewd bargaining by the Louizou brothers has for the first time brought a foreign crew element to Greek-flagged cruise ships. But the reverse of the coin is that other owners are now calling for similar state subsidies. Last February, a Piraeus court put an end to the half century-long history of Royal Olympia Cruises by ordering the auction of its three last remaining ships. The demise of ROC meant that no cruise ship flew the Greek flag any longer, some 1,500 Greek seafarers joined the dole queue, and many small businesses on Aegean islands, dependent on cruise ship calls, started worrying about their future.
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