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The first decade of the 20th century… Izmir is the backbone
of the Anatolian economy… Its thousands year-old port is the
Ottoman Empire’s gate into Europe… Every kind of produce grown
in its fertile soil from cotton to tobacco, grapes and figs
and they are sent not just to the east but shipped from Izmir
to the countries of the West.
In this city, which was the pearl of the Ottoman Empire’s
eye, Gabriel J. B. Arcas established Arkas in 1902 as an import
agency. In 1944 it began to operations in the field of international
transportation.
At a time when the country needed more branches of business
even more than ever, Arkas, headed by Lucien Gabriel Arcas,
began to evaluate the potential of this peninsula surrounded
by water on three sides.
Arkas first dispatched ships loaded in Turkey to Egypt. Within
a short time they were sailing the seven seas… Arkas’s main
goals were to utilize maritime waterways and, in parallel,
to play a leading role in the rapid development of the country’s
economy.
In 1964, as horse-drawn carriages gave way to motorcars and
cobblestones were replaced by asphalt, Arkas’s development
accelerated with the establishment by Lucien Arkas of the
Lucien Arkas Shipping Agency. This company provided services
to shipowners renowned in the global transportation sector
for their success and reliability and successfully represented
the Turkish Transportation Sector in the international market.
Arkas was responsible for the first container shipment from
Turkey in 1978 and pioneered the acceptance of this transportation
system in the country.
Changing circumstance meant that Arkas had to grow. This
resulted in the establishment of a joint stock company in
1979 and this ‘development’ became complete with the adoption
of the name Arkas Shipping and Transport.
The restructuring of Arkas at the beginning of the 21st century
led to the foundation of Arkas Holding which today brings
together under a single roof 39 companies active in the international
transportation and services sector. Today the Arkas flag is
the symbol of international transportation in Turkey and in
particular of container transportation
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