The Cyprus Shipping Chamber, the driving force of the island’s maritime industry over the past three decades, celebrates its 30th anniversary on Saturday, a milestone that very few shipping umbrella groups can match.
The CSC, established on January 26, 1989, initially as the Cyprus Shipping Council, started with just 17 members and has since grown to over 200 members, owners of 2,200 ships and a gross registered tonnage of 74 mln.
The vision that the CSC members had to promote Cyprus shipping, has propelled the flag register to the 11th biggest fleet in the world and the third in the European Union, and the leading EU ship-management hub, third in the world.
Together, they generate about EUR 1.2 bln annually that represents some 7% of GDP, which compared with the maritime contribution of the economies of Denmark (7%), Singapore (7.5%) and Greece, while other maritime centres contribute a range of 1.5% to 4% of their national output.
In all, Cyprus-owned, flagged or managed ships directly employ some 9,000 staff, accounting about 9% of the official workforce, with a further 55,000 seafarers enrolled on the island’s welfare system.
“Our biggest achievements to date include the highly attractive and competitive tax scheme since 2010, the positive review by the Troika [of international lenders] in 2013-2016 and the fact that despite the financial crisis six years ago, all the foreign-owned shipping companies remained in Cyprus,” said CSC Director General Thomas Kazakos.
Other feathers in the Cyprus-flag cap include the credibility of the island as a leading and reliable shipping registry, synergies that are being established in the energy sector and the good infrastructure that the maritime cluster has to offer, which Kazakos terms as “after sales care”.
The Cyprus flag is an open registry and plans to stay so, with the only obstacles in its further growth being the unresolved Cyprus problem of the division of the island and Turkey’s continued embargo on Cyprus-flag ships.
“If these are solved, then the sky is the limit for the Cyprus flag,” Kazakos said.
Challenges that lie ahead are maintaining the unique tax system which the EU plans to adopt itself, upgrading of all services, including the recent promotion of the Department of Merchant Shipping to the Deputy Ministry of Shipping with a junior minister in the cabinet, reporting directly to the president.
“Now is the time for all of us to pursue closer cooperation, especially in the private sector, and to have a single voice to represent the entire maritime cluster in all international fora,” Kazakos said.
The CSC will be marking its 30th anniversary with a number of events, including the official dinner on March 1 (the only event taking place in Nicosia, the annual general meeting on May 30, and co-organising the Maritime Cyprus bi-annual conference on October 6-9, which Kazakos calls the “Olympic Games of Shipping”.
The official celebrations will conclude with a benefit dinner for all members in November, while side activities include the annual beach volley tournament in September, a tradition that has been kept up for 20 years and which in recent years has helped raise about EUR 250,000 for the One Dream, One Wish children’s charity.
Community activities include the twice-annual blood donation by CSC and members’ staff, marking World Maritime Day on May 20 and the Adopt-a-Ship programme that promotes shipping within schools and promotes future career opportunities in the maritime sector.
