Captain Tasos Kroukis, from the village of Papadates in Preveza, first went to sea at the age of 18 aboard the M/V Andros Castle.
The ship sailed from Emden, Germany, to Norfolk, USA, where it loaded coal before heading on to Japan. For him, the sea was a way out of poverty.
“I respected the sea more than anything else, and it gave me a great deal – but I never loved it. That’s why I never encouraged my children to follow the seafaring profession. It is extremely hard not to watch your children grow up by your side,” Captain Tasos tells us. He concludes: “My longest voyage lasted 32 months, and the toughest situation I ever faced was when we encountered a cyclone in the North Atlantic – while I was still a rookie.”
Produced and presented by Antonis Karagiannakis