The company was established in 1918 in
Piraeus, Greece, under the name "General Company of Commerce and Industry of Greece". In the beginning, it specialised in producing and trading
flour under the name of "Attica Flour Mills SA". In 1922, the company changed hands and was renamed Attica Enterprises S.A. This was later revised to Attica Enterprises Holding S.A. before being shortened to Attica Group.
1924 The Attica Group was listed on the
Athens Stock Exchange, marking a key step in its growth and public presence. Throughout the mid-20th century, Attica Group remained primarily engaged in commercial trading and non-shipping activities, without major operations in ferry transport.
1993 A new management team, chaired by Pericles S. Panagopulos, created the shipping subsidiary Attica Maritime S.A., later renamed Superfast Ferries Maritime S.A. The first two Superfast car-passenger ferries,
Superfast I and
Superfast II, were ordered from Schichau Seebeckwerft AG in Bremen, Germany.
1995 April and June: The two ordered car-passenger ferries,
Superfast I and
Superfast II, were delivered and employed in the Patras–Ancona–Patras service. The two ferries cut the crossing time between Patras and Ancona by up to 40%.
1996 July: Two new Superfast car-passenger ferries,
Superfast III and
Superfast IV, were ordered at Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Turku, Finland.
1998 April:
Superfast III and
Superfast IV were delivered and deployed on the Patras–Ancona–Patras route, while
Superfast I and
Superfast II launched a new route linking Patras and Igoumenitsa with Bari in southern Italy.
2006 February: Attica sells its 12.33% stake in
Hellenic Seaways acquired a year earlier. March: Blue Star Ferries' passenger-only catamaran
SeaJet 2 is sold. The sale of the vessel is part of the company's policy to focus on the operation of fast, modern conventional car-passenger vessels. April:
Superfast VII,
Superfast VIII, and
Superfast IX, serving on the
Rostock, Germany –
Hanko, Finland route in the
Baltic Sea are sold to AS Tallink Grupp. The sold vessels will retain their names and continue sailing under the Superfast livery until the end of 2007 at the latest, following an agreement with AS Tallink Grupp. Attica Group maintains its presence in the
Baltic Sea with the operation of its two
RoRo vessels, which trade between Rostock, Germany, and
Uusikaupunki, Finland. July: Attica's subsidiary, Blue Star Maritime S.A., acquires the total assets of DANE Sea Line for a total of €19.9 million. The assets included the car-passenger ferry
Diagoras, which is deployed to the
Dodecanese Islands' routes in August. August: Attica enters into an agreement to sell to Veolia Transport its ice-class vessel
Superfast X trading between Scotland and Belgium for a total cash consideration of €112 million. The delivery of
Superfast X and final payment is to take place at the beginning of 2007. November: Attica enters into an agreement with Fret Cetam of France for the chartering of RoRo
Nordia until October 2008. RoRo
Nordia was deployed on the Uusikaupunki, Finland – Rostock, Germany route together with RoRo
Marin. As of the beginning of 2007, RoRo
Marin is to be redeployed from the Baltic Sea to serve the needs of the Group in the Greece–Italy routes in the Adriatic Sea and in the domestic market. Blue Star Ferries is voted "Passenger Line of the Year" at Lloyd's List Greek Shipping Awards. December: Attica Group announces the deployment of
Blue Star 1 of its subsidiary Blue Star Ferries to the Scotland–Belgium service as of the end of January 2007.
Blue Star 1 is to replace
Superfast X, which was sold earlier in the year, and is to be delivered to her new owners in February 2007.
2007 February: Attica Group increases its stake in Minoan Lines to 22.25%. June: Attica sells its total participation in Minoan Lines S.A. August: Attica proceeded in the assignment of new offices and new responsibilities to its board members. On behalf of its subsidiaries Superfast Ferries and Blue Star Ferries, Attica Group donated the amount of €150,000 to the Special Relief Fund for the benefit of the victims of the recent fires in Greece. September: Attica Group announces the purchase of two RoPax ships, built in 1998 and 1999. Attica Group, pursuant to Law 3556/2007, Decision 1/434/03.07.2007 and Circular nr. 33 of the
Hellenic Capital Market Commission, announced that
Marfin Investment Group Holdings S.A., which is closely associated to the vice-chairman of the Board of Directors Andreas Vgenopoulos, bought shares of the company as follows: a) on 20 February 2008 bought 19,295 shares with total net value of €106,292.29 b) on 21 February 2008 bought 10,518 shares with total net value of €57,938.79
2008 September:
Zeebrugge–
Rosyth route discontinued on 13 September. The service will be restarted in spring 2009 by
Norfolkline. On 12 March 2009,
Superfast XII began service on the newly established
Piraeus–
Heraklion route. In December,
Brittany Ferries acquired
Superfast V from the Attica Group for €81.50 million. Following its delivery in February 2010, the ship was renamed MV
Cap Finistère. In June 2016, Attica Group and
BMCE Bank established
Africa Morocco Link (AML), a
joint venture that would operate scheduled ferry services from Morocco to Europe. Attica Group held a 49% minority stake in the new company, with the remainder held by a consortium of Moroccan investors led by BMCE Bank. In May 2018, Attica Group secured a 50.3% controlling interest in
Hellenic Seaways, increasing its stake in the company to 98.83% by June. The overall transaction amounted to €142.9 million. In September 2022, Attica Group acquired
ANEK Lines, expanding the company's network of routes while maintaining ANEK Lines as its fourth cruise line subsidiary. In April 2024, Attica Group sold its 49% share in
Africa Morocco Link to
Stena Line. ==Fleet==