History and Numbers

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 to Europe… Every kind of product growing in its fertile soil from cotton to tobacco, grapes and figs are not only sent to the East but also shipped from Izmir to the countries of the West.

In this city, which was the pearl of the Aegean for the Ottoman Empire, Gabriel J. B. Arcas established Arkas in 1902 as an import agency. In 1944 it began to operate 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 sea on three sides.

Arkas first dispatched ships from Turkey to Egypt. Within a short time they were sailing the seven seas… The main goals of Arkas 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 kept growing faster with the establishment of the Lucien Arkas Shipping Agency by Lucien Arkas. 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, thus, paved the way for the prevalent use of this transportation system in the country.

Changing circumstances urged Arkas to grow further. 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 brings together 66 companies actively operating in the international transportation and services sector under a single roof . Today the Arkas flag is the symbol of international transportation in Turkey and of container transportation in particular.

Over a century of proud achievement…