Cyprus shipping fleet declines in 2007

The Cyprus shipping fleet declined again in 2007, according to the annual report, Transport Statistics produced by the Statistical Service.
At the end of 2007, 1,790 ships were on the Cyprus Register with a total of 19,912,382 gross registered tonnage.
This was lower than in 2006, when there were 1,828 registered ships, with a total of 21,657,155 gross registered tonnage.
In addition, to a fall in registrations, fewer vessels arrived at Cyprus ports: 4,279 vessels arrived at the ports of Cyprus (southern part) in 2007 compared to 4,534 in 2006.
Of these 3,217 or 75.2% arrived in Limassol, 786 or 18.4% called at Larnaca and 276 ships at other ports.
As well as shipping data, the report provides data on the registration of motor vehicles, road accidents, aviation activities, and the transportation of goods and passengers.
Civil aircraft landings during 2007 increased to 31,028 compared to 30,670 in 2006. Passenger arrivals through airports increased to 3,512,672 in 2007, compared with 3,344,784 in 2006.
Motor vehicle registrations increased by 33.1% to 64,405 from 48,387 in 2006, owing to a big cut in excise duties in late 2006. Private saloon cars newly registered increased by 37.1% to 48,133 from 35,110 in 2006.
Vehicles of all types and categories registered at the Land Transport Department totalled 688,532 at the end of 2007 (around 0.9 vehicles per person), compared with 649,574 at the end of 2006.
The number of road accidents reported to the police decreased to 2,302 in 2007 compared with 2,673 in 2006.
However, 89 people were killed in 2007 compared with 86 in 2006. There were 2,155 people injured, compared with 2,589 injured in 2006.
According to the report, gross output of the broad Transport, Storage and Communication sector rose by 7.5% in 2006 to CYP 1,091.6 mln (EUR 1,865.1 mln) in 2006, compared with CYP 1,015.7 mln (EUR 1,735.4 mln) in 2005.
The value added of the sector increased to CYP 615.0 mln (EUR 1,050.8 mln) in 2006, from CYP 602.9 mln (EUR 1,030.1 mln) in 2005 and its share of GDP was 8.2% at current market prices.