In August of 1988 the President of the Company Manuel Kulukundis died in New York weeks short of his 90th birthday, he laid down the foundations of the Company along with his cousin Minas Rethymnis in 1920, his stature had increased along with that of his Company and was recognised Worldwide as a Doyen of Greek ship owners.
In December yet another member of the Family died, not formally associated with the Company nevertheless he was a founder shareholder and father of the current Managing Director, his name was Captain Nicholas Kulukundis. Fate was to intervene once more before the year was out when Minas Kulukundis boarded Pan Am Flight 103 to attend the Captain’s funeral in America just before Christmas. Along with all the crew, passengers and villagers, he was the victim of terrorists when a bomb exploded over the small village of Lockerbie.