Marcoullis: Cyprus among top ten international fleets

Cyprus ranks among the top ten international fleets on the list of leading maritime nations and the country’s registry has shown phenomenal growth in the past thirty years, Minister of Communications and Works, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, stressed at the annual dinner of the «The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers – Cyprus Branch», in the southern coastal town of Limassol.

Cyprus, and more particularly Limassol, is considered to be the largest third party ship-management centre in the European Union and one of the largest in the world, she added. “More than 130 ship-owning, ship-management and shipping related companies maintain fully-fledged offices and conduct their international activities from Cyprus”.

It is estimated that approximately 4% of the world’s fleet is managed from Cyprus, according to the Cypriot Minister, noting that among the ship-owning and ship-management companies established and operating from Cyprus, 87% are controlled by EU, including Cypriot interests.

Companies engaged in chartering, crewing, ship surveying, ship-broking, salvaging and marine insurance are able to offer first class services to their customers worldwide from their offices in Cyprus, she pointed out. Cyprus now ranks among the top ten international fleets – with 1.026 ocean going vessels of a gross tonnage exceeding 20,2 million – and has the third largest fleet within the European Union with a percentage of 12% of the total fleet of the 27 EU member states, she added.

The classification of Cyprus flag in the «White List» of the Paris and Tokyo MOUs on Port State Control, its exclusion from the «List of Targeted Flag States» of the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the high quality standards of the fleet and the services provided, in combination with a number of fiscal, economic and other benefits offered, make the Cyprus flag the ideal choice for every successful entrepreneur, Marcoullis stressed.