Established in 1972, Minoan Lines is the leading Ro/Ro-Passenger operator on the routes linking mainland Greece to the Italian ports in the Central and Northern Adriatic as well as between Piraeus and the city of Heraklion (Crete).

Based in Heraklion and listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, today the Company runs regular services connecting the ports of Ancona (Italy), Igoumenitsa and Patras (Greece) on a daily basis; Venice (Italy), Corfu, Igoumenitsa and Patras (Greece) four times a week; and Piraeus (the port of Athens) and Heraklion again with a daily service.

Minoan Lines operates a modern fleet of seven large Ro/Ro-Passenger ships, including the M/v Cruise Europa and Cruise Olympia, the biggest cruise ferries in the Mediterranean Sea, built in 2009-2010. With a loading capacity of 3,000 passengers, 250 units of cars and 3,000 linear metres of rolling cargo, the ferries offer services on board comparable to those found on cruise ships.

Over the years Minoan Lines has continuously upgraded the quality and range of its services and enjoys a high level of customer loyalty. Thanks to highly skilled crews, Minoan Lines guarantees its customers punctual departures and quality service on board. Modern garages, with loading capacity up to 3,000 lane metres (approx.180 trucks) plus up to 250 cars, and an efficient booking system ensure efficient and speedy embarkation/ disembarkation procedures.

At the beginning of 2008 the Grimaldi Group became the majority shareholder in Minoan Lines, and now owns over 87% of the shares. Minoan Lines' Chairman is Emanuele Grimaldi and its Managing Director is Antonis Maniadakis.