The Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC) welcomed the results of the newest ‘Shipmanagement Report’, recently published by the Cyprus Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Cyprus, for the first half of 2020, which covers the period January 01 – June 30.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC) held a videoconference on September 29 of this year, with the Members of the European Parliament for Cyprus, within the framework of its close and long-term cooperation with the Cyprus representatives in the various European decision-making institutions.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC) expresses its growing frustration at the ineffectiveness of the international community to address the continuing piracy crisis in the Gulf of Guinea, with more ships being attacked and more seafarers being taken hostage for ransom, in spite of the comprehensive measures that ship operators have taken to defend their ships and crews.

Following close consultation between the relevant/responsible government authorities and the maritime private sector, the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Shipping announced that Cyprus has been chosen and awarded as a location (in the Limassol Moni anchorage) for the layup of currently six technically advanced cruise ships by one of the world’s leading cruise vessel operators, under the support of a local maritime provider.

The European Union celebrates every year on May 20, the ‘European Maritime Day’, which is an opportunity to raise awareness about the great opportunities offered by the sea and to recognise the vital role of the shipping Industry in the economy and the well-being of the member states of the European Union and its citizens.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber, through its member-companies, participated in a global initiative, in view of Labor Day, sounding the horns of ships in Limassol port together with other ships in ports across the world, on May 01, at 12 noon local time.

On the occasion of commencing the gradual lifting of the restrictive measures, the Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC) congratulated the Cyprus Government and the state, as well as all stakeholders involved, for the good handling of the Covid-19 pandemic so far.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber welcomed the results of the newest “Ship Management Report”, published by the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Cyprus, for the second half of 2019, which covers the period July 01 –December 31, 2019.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber welcomed with satisfaction the inclusion of the Cyprus Flag to the ‘Qualship 21’ list of the US Coast Guard after being removed from the targeted flaglist of the USCG, further improving its safety performance as to the applicable regulations and quality image.

To ensure the continued functioning of the global maritime transportation system, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), issued a new message to G20 leaders.

The message calls for co-operation between UN agencies, governments and airlines to find viable solutions to the important issues of facilitating crew changes soon and on a more urgent basis to allow access to emergency medical treatment ashore and urgent repatriation to seafarers, where necessary.

The message stated that: “While it is right for governments to focus on the immediate public health emergency presented by COVID-19, we must not forget that – amongst other economically important activities – that merchant ships move the world’s medical supplies, food, energy and raw materials, plus the manufactured products and components which, due to complex global supply chains, are necessary for national economies to function effectively and for the preservation of jobs. Global trade is dependent on the world’s two million seafarers and marine personnel who operate the world’s merchant ships. Given the expected continuation of travel and flight restrictions, there is a critical need for Governments to address the serious problem of facilitating ships’ crew changes. Without co-ordinated global action, the efficient flow of imports and exports carried by sea will be jeopardised, with negative impacts on the resilience of national economies throughout the COVID-19 crisis."

In this respect, the following comprehensive recommendations to G20 leaders and governments are made:

1. Designate professional seafarers and marine personnel, regardless of nationality, as ‘key workers’ providing an essential service and grant them appropriate exemptions from national travel or movement restrictions, to enable them to join and leave ships.
2. All governments to identify ports in their countries, and appropriate airports nearby, from where crew changes can safely be resumed as soon as possible.
3. Governments, in the event of medical emergencies, to provide visiting seafarers with access to emergency medical treatment ashore and, if necessary, to facilitate emergency repatriation as required by the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
4. Establish a special G20 taskforce on the issue of ships’ crew changes as an effective response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber, fully supports the abovementioned recommendations and stands ready to continue the ongoing discussions with the Shipping Deputy Ministry, the Cyprus Government and local stakeholders, in order to identify, the soonest possible, viable solutions on crew changes issues and to safeguard access to healthcare on shore, to the unseen heroes of global trade, our seafarers.