Established on the Aegean island of Syros, the company provided transportation links within Greece and to Europe and the Middle East.
The Greek Steamship Company was established in 1856 in the city of Hermoupolis (often spelled "Ermoupoli"), on the island of Syros.
The primary task of the company was (1) to link up the Greek islands (particularly the Cyclades) and the coastal cities and (2) to better connect Greece with wider Europe and the Middle East.
In 1832, Athens was named the capital of the newly independent Kingdom of Greece, however Ermoupoli in Syros remained the commercial and industrial hub until the mid-19th century.
By 1862, there were eleven ships making regular voyages to Smyrna (now İzmir), Constantinople (now Istanbul) and other ports along the Turkish coast.
They also built steamships, as well as providing a school for educating Greeks who desired to become mechanical engineers or to work in shipping.
The letter is dated 19 May 1881: British Screw Steamer Truthful of Liverpool Official Number 78740 J.O'Keefe Master, which vessel arrived here from Liverpool on the 15th instant and was delivered to the Hellenic Steam Navigation Company at this Port in pursuance of instructions and a Bill of Sale from her owner Mr. Basilio Papayanni [or "Papaquami"?]
[Letter found at the National Archives (UK), Kew, London U.K. in the 1881 Foreign Office volume with correspondence to and from the British consuls in Greece.
The Hellenic Steam Navigation Company purchased its third ship of 1881, the British Screw Steamer Raven "of Glasgow Off.
This was the Screw Steamer Portland "of Liverpool Official Number 76725 Frank Boyce Dobson Master" which arrived from Liverpool in Syros on 12 September 1882 [Letter from British Consul W. P. Binney dated 18 August 1882, found in 1882 Foreign Office volume in the National Archive at Kew, London: National Archive ref.
A later letter from Consul Cottrell in 1893 (see below) leads one to the conclusion that ten or more steamships were operating on numerous routes linking Syra with the outside world in the 1880s.