[Aristo]

Persian Shipping Services was a London based firm operating in the 1960s a non-conference line to the Persian Gulf.
I have found the following five vessels operating for them:

PERSIAN CYRUS
The vessel does not appear in databases under PSS ownership but a photo here shows her with their logo on her hull.
Built 1944 by William Hamilton & Co, Port Glasgow as EMPIRE TRUMPET for the MoWT.
1946 sold to Charente S.S. Co. Ltd. (T. & J. Harrison, Liverpool) and renamed NATURALIST.
1959 sold to Iranian Lloyd Co., Khorramshahr; renamed PERSIAN CYRUS. Managed by B. Ashworth & Co. (Overseas), London.
1965 To Iranian Shipping Lines S.A., Khorramshahr; renamed HAMADAN.
1966 sold to P.J. Frangoulis & A. & I. Cliafas, Piraeus, renamed KOULA F .
25.7.66 Stranded near Qais Island, Iran and abandoned. Wreck still extant.

PERSIAN CAMBYSES
The vessel does not appear in databases under PSS ownership but a photo here shows her with their logo on her hull.
Built 1944 by Wm. Gray & Co., West Hartlepool as EMPIRE IRVING for the MoWT.
1946 sold to Ropner Shipping Co., renamed BELLERBY.
1960 sold to Iranian Lloyd Co. Ltd., Khorramshahr, renamed PERSIAN CAMBYSES.
1964 To Iranian Shipping Lines, Khorramshahr; renamed IRANIAN TRADER.
1964 renamed SHIRAZ.
7.5.66 arrested for debts at Dammam, broke moorings and damaged
1970 sold to Matrood & Essa Zeers Bayrainis, Bahrain, renamed SAYHET; towed to Sitra Roads.
1972 broken up at Gadani Beach.

JOHN L. MANTA
Built 1945 by Bethehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, as type VC2-S-AP2 MILFORD VICTORY for the US WSA.
1947 sold to Holland-America Lijn and renamed ABBEDIJK.
1961 bought by PSS; renamed JOHN L. MANTA.
1967 sold to Naviran S.A., Khorramshahr, Iran; renamed CYRUS II. A photo of her is available here.
8.11.68 arrived at Durban badly damaged by fire, later seized there.
5.1969 auctioned to K. Nathan (Pty) Ltd., Durban; resold to breakers.
12.1969 arrived under tow at Kaohsiung and scrapped.

PERSIAN ROXANA
photo with PSS livery here
Built 1952 by Wm. Gray & Co., West Hartlepool as APPLEDORE for Maritime Shipping & Trading Co. Ltd. (Michalinos Bros.), London
1964 bought by PSS; renamed PERSIAN ROXANA.
1966 sold to Iranian Shipping & General Services Ltd., London.
1967 sold to Rodosi Co. Ltd. Corp., Piraeus; renamed MARIGO F. (probably a Frangoulis & Claifas firm).
1970 sold to Jebshun Shipping Co. Ltd., London; renamed PRECIOUS GEM.
1972 scrapped at Whampoa, China.

PERSIAN CAMBYSES II
The vessel does not appear under PSS ownership but a photo here shows her with their logo on her hull.
Built 1945 by Bethlehem-Fairfield, Baltimore as type VC2-S-AP2 HAVERFORD VICTORY for the US WSA.
3.1947 sold to Holland-America Lijn and renamed GRIJPSKERK.
6.1947 renamed MELISKERK.
1964 sold to Marcierta Compañia Naviera S.A., Piraeus, renamed PERSIAN CAMBYSES II. Managed by Iranian Shipping & General Services Ltd., London.
13.11.1968 Arrived at Durban with machinery damage, detained for debts, then arrested.
1969 auctioned to S.A. Marcis, Durban.
1970 sold to Cephalonia Shipping Co. (Pty) Ltd., Durban. Although not recorded she was probably renamed MARINA AGHIA (as shown here at Durban)
10.1970 sold to Time Lines (Panama) S.A., Hong Kong, renamed TIEN TAI.
27.2.72 Arrived Kaohsiung and broken up.

There is some confusion (to me at least) about the connections between PSS, Iranian Lloyd, Iranian Shipping & General and Naviran.

At least a narrative here suggests a connection.

There were two ships under arrest in Durban harbour, the Cyrus II and the Persian Cambyses II. Both were owned by the same firm, though they were registered in different countries. One had a Greek captain, the other a British captain. One had a Greek crew, the other an Indian crew. They were moored side-by-side in the bay, and the crews were stranded.

I also tend to believe that there was a Greek connection behind PSS.
Any additional information and corrections are most welcomed!

Sources include www.shipsnostalgia.com, www.marhisdata.nl, www.shipspotting.com, www.mariners-l.co.uk

 

[Fragkiskos]

There is indeed a Greek connection to PSS. The company was jointly owned by 1. Captain Photinos Spanos (born Ikaria Greece 1917) 2. Nikos Spanos (attorney) a first generation US national (born 1916) and 3. the second husband of Ashraf Pahlavi (the sister of the Shah of Iran). The brother of Photis Spanos...Nikos Spanos was the owner of a London based company ...Iranian Shipping Services..that company managed MV Vassilia, and MV Charalambos and MV George Bower in the late 1960's..

 

[Pop Alexandra]

Thanks for the extensive analysis. Everything seems consistent with that I've known about them.
______________________________
Alexandra
high-tech cargo shipping

 

[Nikaria]

In addition to those identified above, there were other owners of Persian Shipping Services (and related entities). The ownership was Greek, Persian, and American (from the standpoint of the nationalities of the individuals with ownership interests, not corporate domicile).

The company was a member of a conference. Its ships carried cargo from northern Europe to the Persian Gulf, particularly Iran. As for its history in a nutshell, the company was growing when, in the mid-late 1960s, it was torn apart due to internal dissension.

As for its ships, and again in addition to those listed above, they included the PERSIAN XERXES and the PERSIAN FERDOWSI.

 

[diwit]

In addition to those identified above, there were other owners of Persian Shipping Services (and related entities). The ownership was Greek, Persian, and American (from the standpoint of the nationalities of the individuals with ownership interests, not corporate domicile).

The company was a member of a conference. Its ships carried cargo from northern Europe to the Persian Gulf, particularly Iran. As for its history in a nutshell, the company was growing when, in the mid-late 1960s, it was torn apart due to internal dissension.

As for its ships, and again in addition to those listed above Dubai to Pakistan Cargo, they included the PERSIAN XERXES and the PERSIAN FERDOWSI.

Hey, I'm looking to ship a new ride from KY to MS and am having trouble with a current shipping co. Apparently due to the fact this is not a well-traveled route for vehicle transportation. Does anyone have a company they have used and would recommend? I need to get some competition in this game. BTW, it's a '13 land cruiser since I'm sure you were wondering. It will share space with my '97 D-90. Thanks

 

[Pete Bower]

You are correct that the Persian Shipping Services company was started by Capt Photinos Spanos and others, but Nikos (known as Nico), Photis' brother, was not an attorney to my knowledge. After service with the Greek Army during WW2 he worked for some years as a Visa/passport clerk in the South African legation in Athens. My family's connection to all of this was that my father was the SA Charge d' Affairs at this time, and therefore Nikos' boss. After his tour of duty ended in Athens my father was posted to Leopoldville where he died in 1955. The Spanos family kept in touch with my parents, however, and Photis Spanos arrived in Leopoldville to support my now-widowed mother after my father's death. In time, when the Persian Shipping Co was formed, my mother was "invited/enticed" to act for the company as a financial broker/advisor. She was even given shares in one of their ships, the certificate for which I uncovered the other day!
This relationship ended abruptly following a disagreement over policy or somesuch, with Photis apparently chasing my mother around the departure hall of Geneva Airport yelling "Christina I will beat you! I will beat you!!"
That wasn't enough, however, to destroy the friendships between our two families and among other things I worked for Nikos in London in 1971 after he had established his own company.
And, indeed, after he had named the company's sixth ship after my father. The rather blurry picture shows the mv George Bower alongside at Shoreham.

By that stage Photis was also there, as a sort of nautical advisor, and I was dispatched each week to collect a parcel of fresh fish for the family from his father-in-law, a wizened old Scottish fishmonger in Billingsgate.
After a few visits he must have seen that I, as a strapping but permanently hungry young lad, needed feeding up, so he started giving me a small parcel of fresh fish, too!

 

[Pete Bower]

There is indeed a Greek connection to PSS. The company was jointly owned by 1. Captain Photinos Spanos (born Ikaria Greece 1917) 2. Nikos Spanos (attorney) a first generation US national (born 1916) and 3. the second husband of Ashraf Pahlavi (the sister of the Shah of Iran). The brother of Photis Spanos...Nikos Spanos was the owner of a London based company ...Iranian Shipping Services..that company managed MV Vassilia, and MV Charalambos and MV George Bower in the late 1960's..

The London based company owned by Nikos was NC Spanos Shipping, and it traded as Spanos Ukomed Lines. 'Twas a non-conference operator with services from UK and continental ports to, particularly, the Eastern Med. A complicating issue was that it attempted to serve ports in both the Lebanon and Israel, as well as in both halves of Cyprus. This made voyage planning somewhat problematical as a ship that called at Israeli ports couldn't also call at Lebanese ports, and a ship that served Turkish Cypriot ports couldn't also serve Greek Cypriot ports.
There were three other ships in the fleet, including the mv Kostandis Photinos, mv Ikaria and another whose name escapes me. The company collapsed towards the end of 1971.