A Modern Nemo 3

Anthony Konstantiniadis was a third-generation Greek American who inherited a vast shipping fleet from his father. His grandfather had been a ship captain who started a small shipping company which plied the routes along the east coast of the United States and Canada. 

Beginning with only two vessels, the fleet steadily grew under the leadership of Konstantiniadis' father and expanded its operations. By the time Konstantiniadis finally assumed control, the fleet had tankers, container ships, ferries and luxury liners and had a global reach.

What awakened Shoji's interest in Konstantiniadis was that the man was a sort of rebel. Like Eric Ong, Konstantiniadis was not the type who could be cowed into submission. What markedly differentiated him from Eric Ong was that the latter was an unwilling participant in a showdown with the Philippine government and only conceived the idea of achieving autonomy while fighting his battles while Konstantiniadis held an idea from the very beginning. 

Even their ideas were different. The idea behind the EOGC was an old one; several institutions in history were its inspiration, the most important being the British East India Company and the Hanseatic League.

Konstantiniadis, on the other hand, had an idea that went beyond Eric Ong's ambitions. Konstantiniadis was born wealthy unlike Eric Ong, who came from a middle-class family. He had the luxury of developing his ideas in school. Meanwhile, Eric Ong was hard at work building his empire; he had some ideas but did not think of anything greater than turning his hometown of Cagayan de Oro into the Busan of the Philippines.

Shoji had a vague idea of what Konstantiniadis wanted: freedom to travel the world, unhampered by international treaties and conventions, as well as protection of the environment. 

Konstantiniadis' company, Green Oceans,  had set up shop in Japan. It shipped cars and electronics from Japan to other parts of the world, particularly to the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Australia and New Zealand.

The next few weeks would be decisive for Shoji. Anthony Konstantiniadis was coming to Japan.