Almost all types of merchant ships from the end of the 19th century till the 20th century are represented in this hall, which presents the advancements of the Greek merchant marine. Namely, they are cargo ships, tankers, crane vessels, oilers, super tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers, container ships, ocean liners, cruise liners, coastal ships and ferry boats.
The exceptional performance of Greek ship-owners in the ring of sea transports has been recorded on a chart which predominates in the Hall. The chart presents the funnel markings of ship-owning companies founded from 1857, the year of the foundation of the “Hellenic Steam-Shipping” company, till our days. Today, the Greek merchant fleet is the largest fleet worldwide.

The great leap which signaled the beginning of Modern Greek shipping took place after the end of World War II.
The War caused the Greek merchant marine severe losses due to enemy attacks (chiefly submarine torpedoing), seizures, requisitions by both the allies and the enemy, sells and several other reasons. The tragic account at the end of the War showed that 77% of the ships and 70% of the total capacity were lost. This loss could only be compared to that of the British Merchant Marine.
The Greek shipping industry was unable to find new or second-hand ships, owing to the huge demand and the resulting high purchase prices. Thus, it turned to the only solution available, namely to purchase some of the liberty type cargo ships which had been laid up by the Americans. Several liberties were built really fast in the USA during the War in order to meet the ever increasing transport needs of Europe which resulted from the continuous loss of cargo ships caused by German torpedoing and air attacks. Therefore, from December 1946 till April 1947, 100 Liberty ships were built along with 7 T2 type tankers. The tankers, too, had been built for the same reasons during the period of the great war.
The 107 ships became the core of the impressive Modern Greek merchant fleet. Two liberty type ship models as well as one Τ-2 tanker ship model have been placed centrally in the Hall. This is because they have been strongly connected with the years of the regeneration of the Greek merchant fleet.Nevertheless, the exhibit attracting the most attention of visitors, especially the young ones, in this hall are the navigation instruments of an old merchant steam ship. These instruments are placed based on their original position on the bridge.