Maritime Cyprus conference raises sustainability issues

The Maritime Cyprus 2011 conference was underway at the Evagoras Lanitis Conference Centre in Limassol on Monday and Tuesday with the participation of some 700 delegates from companies, service providers and organisations in 35 countries who discussed the key issues of safety, energy management and long term sustainability of the shipping industry.
Expert panelists on the field of “Energy” debated and discussed issues related to energy consumption and the supply of resources, the environmental impact, and the financial implications involved. This followed a relevant analysis of the current status of energy supply, the potential role of LNG as an alternative fuel, as well as other renewable sources of energy and alternative fuels.
On the issue of “Long Term Sustainability”, the discussion focused on the environmental and technical aspect, as well as from the shipping industry’s point of view. The debate explored ways on how to use energy more efficiently, developing new supplies of energy, mitigating the environmental impacts and minimising the potential harmful effects to achieve the transition from current energy sources to a sustainable future.
The deliberations of the second day of the Conference concluded in the afternoon with a recent addition to the Maritime Cyprus conferences, the “Young Executives Session” that looked at “Global Shipping Networking”. During the session, a number of views were expressed on how young executives can expand their network of colleagues through social media and the media and how they can promote their business within this global network.
The conference was officially opened by President Demetris Christofias on Monday followed by speeches from Admiral Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and Siim Kallas, EU Vice-President and Transport Commissioner.
Ranked as one of the biggest shipping conferences in the world, Maritime Cyprus was organised by the Ministry of Communications and Works, the Department of Merchant Shipping, the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and the Cyprus Union of Shipowners. Monday’s theme was “Is it Safe Enough?” and comprised of three debates on “Countering Piracy”, “Seafarers, Human Element” and “Capital Markets, A New Perspective in Ship Financing”.
IMO Secretary General Efthymios Mitropoulos, and the President of the International Chamber of Shipping, Spyros Polemis, analysed the effects of piracy from a regulator’s point of view and a shipowners’ point of view, respectively. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Erato Kozakou Marcoullis focused on the national flag perspective and the actions and measures undertaken by the Cyprus Government to countering piracy.

ARMED GUARDS
The Financial Mirror reported last week that Cyprus is preparing legislation that will allow armed guards to board merchant ships to protect the crew, vessel and cargo from pirate attacks.
With the third biggest maritime fleet in the European Union and the tenth biggest in the world, Cyprus also boasts itself as the world leader in shipmanagement companies, all of whom are concerned about the safety of their ships.
The government is at the final stage of concluding the draft bill which, when passed, will make it one of the most comprehensive of its kind and help restore some order in the maritime industry that relies on navies and private security companies for its safety.
“We are in the same situation as all the other maritime nations. We cannot rely on navies to protect ships all around the world,” said Serghios Serghiou, the Director of the Department of Merchant Shipping, adding that “even charterers are demanding to have security personnel on board.”
International law is very basic and does little to safeguard crews or prosecute would-be pirates, he said.
Serghiou explained that the new law will overcome past legal obstacles and will help define issues such as the transfer of weapons on board ships and the protection of seamen in cases of conflict.
“This will also send out the message that Cyprus is willing to defend its ships, crew and cargoes,” even though the Republic does not have a navy that would patrol pirate-filled routes in the Indian Ocean or elsewhere. Cyprus does, however, participate in the EUROFOR patrols off the coast of eastern Africa with two naval officers.
“Shipping accounts for 90% of all world trade and is the cheapest method of transport. Piracy is causing major problems to the stability and costs in world trade,” said Thomas Kazakos, chief executive of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber.
“Imagine what would happen if global shipping were to come to a halt for three days alone,” he said.
Alecos Michaelides, Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Works explained that piracy has also pushed up labour costs.
“The industry is having to pay higher wages for seamen in order to make the profession more attractive for new recruits,” he said.