Historical Development of Cyprus Merchant Fleet

The history of

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

in Cyprus traces back hundreds of years. Its geographical position at the crossroads of

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and

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as well as its proximity to the Suez canal has historically favoured merchant shipping as an important industry for this

an island state. As of 2005 Cyprus holds the 9th largest (by DWT) merchant navy in the world and the 3rd largest in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

Ancient History

Merchant shipping has long been of great importance to the island, with its roots stretching well back into antiquity. Examples of shipwrecks discovered off the island's coast (e.g. the

Kyrenia ship The Kyrenia Ship is the wreck of a 4th-century BC ancient Greek merchant ship. It was discovered by Greek-Cypriot diving instructor Andreas Cariolou in November 1965 during a storm. Having lost the exact position, Cariolou carried out more than 200 ...

) plus evidence of ancient ports (e.g.

Amathus Amathus or Amathous ( grc, Ἀμαθοῦς) was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its impressive remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about west o ...

) give proof to the fact that Cyprus was a major seafaring player in antiquity and located along important trade routes. Merchant marine by country

Modern history

Merchant shipping has been actively developed by successive governments since the independence of Cyprus from British rule in 1960 and has since experienced sustained growth. The first shipping hub was created in the port of Famagusta, but since the Turkish invasion of 1974 the port has been occupied and is currently declared illegal. Most business are now transferred to Limassol Port and to a lesser extent Larnaca Port. Cyprus has traditionally been a popular shipping centre and home to some of the leading names of the global shipping industry. Among the ship management companies established and operating, 87% are controlled by EU interests. These companies employ almost 40.000 seafarers out of whom 5.000 are EU nationals. According to the latest governmental estimates, the total fleet managed from Cyprus represents 20% of the world third–party ship management market (out of 10.000 ships in the world shipmanagement market under a wide approach). Top11FOCs2009

EU Tonnage Tax Scheme

The new tonnage tax scheme for Cyprus was approved by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

on 24 March 2010, as compatible with the requirements of the EU

Acquis communautaire The Community acquis or ''acquis communautaire'' (; ), sometimes called the EU acquis and often shortened to acquis, is the accumulated legislation, legal acts and court decisions that constitute the body of European Union law that came into b ...

, in accordance with the relevant guidelines on State Aid to Maritime Transport. This simplified tonnage tax system is approved for the first time for an EU Member State, a state with an open registry. The said scheme was approved for a ten years period, which may be extended for a further period of ten years. The provisions of the Law are applicable for the fiscal year 2010, starting on the 1st January 2010 and will be valid until December 2019.

Department of Merchant Shipping

The Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS) was established and started functioning as a distinct entity in the Ministry of Communications and Works, in 1977. The service existed, however since 1963 and functioned under the Department of Ports. The Cyprus registry ranks tenth among international fleets and third within the European Union, with a merchant fleet exceeding 22 million gross tons. The department is responsible for the development of maritime activities which include: *

Ship registration Ship registration is the process by which a ship is documented and given the nationality of the country to which the ship has been documented. The nationality allows a ship to travel internationally as it is proof of ownership of the vessel. Inter ...

, *Administration and enforcement of the Merchant Shipping Laws *Control of ships and enforcement of international conventions ratified by the Government of Cyprus *

Marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is i ...

*Vessel traffic monitoring in the sea around Cyprus and information system implementation *Monitoring the conditions of living and work on board Cyprus Ships *Registration, training and certification of seafarers *Control of Coastal passenger vessels and small craft *Investigation of marine accidents *Continuous updating of the merchant shipping legislation and its harmonization with that of the European Union *Coordination of the EU Integrated Maritime Policy *Administration of the State Aid Scheme for Maritime Transport and the Tonnage Tax System *Promotion of Cyprus as an International Registry and a base for international maritime operations

Open Registry Regime

Cyprus has the only EU-approved “Open Registry” regime with a wide and legally endorsed

Tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...

Tax System (TTS), which was introduced with the Merchant Shipping Law in 2010 and covers the three main “maritime transport” activities: * Ship owning * Ship management (crew and technical management) * Chartering

Maritime Centre

The BSM Maritime Training Centre was founded in 1983 and is IMO approved operating under the auspices of the Cyprus Administration. Individual courses are separately recognized by individual leading flag state authorities, where required. The Centre provides training for Ratings, Junior Officers, Senior Officers, employed on Cyprus and foreign flag ships. Attendees who pass the exams are awarded with certificates issued by the Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping. All courses comply with STCW 1978 and the amendments of the 1995 Convention. In 1998, the school won the

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...

Youth & Training Award for its outstanding and consistent contribution to maritime training.

Geopolitics

The states's accession to the

, in 2004, further boosted the reputation and overall image of the Cyprus flag and the infrastructure of Cyprus’ shipping in general. Settlement of the Cyprus dispute would boost the commercial fleet to new levels, according to, Cyprus Shipping Chamber Director General and

European Community Shipowners' Associations The European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) is the voice of the European shipping industry. Founded in 1965 under the name ''Comité des Associations d'Armateurs des Communautés Européennes'' (CAACE), ECSA promotes the interests of 19 ...

Chairman, Thomas Kazakos. Under the recent geopolitical developments the government is putting into effect recommendations of a study to help it reposition. The Cyprus Shipping Chamber director general says the five-point action plan is designed to boost the island even further against other maritime hubs and open ship registries.PwC: Cyprus shipping: A sea of opportunities
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Economic Contribution

Shipping and

ship management Ship management is the activity of managing marine vessels. The vessels under management could be owned by a sister concern of the ship management company or by independent vessel owners. A vessel owning company that generally has several vesse ...

makes up approximately 2% of the GDP with an overall contribution in of CYP£170 million (1999). 3,500 people are employed in the industry, representing 2% of the total gainfully employed population. The total revenue of Cyprus Maritime Administration for the year 2003 was around CYP£5.3 million which mainly consists of tonnage tax from ship owning and ship management companies, registration fees and issue of shipping documents.

References

{{Reflist, 40em

External links

Cyprus Marine Shipping Official websiteCyprus Shipping CouncilCyprus Ports AuthorityCyprus Union of Shipowners
Merchant navies by country Shipping in Europe