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.

The Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry has announced that, based on the outcome of the US Government’s 2019 Annual Report on Port State Control; Cyprus is no longer part of the Targeted Flag List of the United States Coastguard (USCG) in relation to the safety performance of flag administrations.

On April 01, MSC Shipmanagement donated 106,000 surgical masks and 100,000 gloves to the Cyprus Government, to assist in the fight against the coronavirus disease outbreak.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC) has been closely monitoring developments with regard to the COVID-19 outbreak at local and global scale and has been following the advice provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Cyprus Government, acting in a proactive manner.

In view also of the recent official commencement of the new Deputy Ministry for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, the Cyprus Shipping Chamber welcomes the completion of two years since the establishment of the Shipping Deputy Ministry, on March 01,2018, whilst observing with satisfaction the successful operation of the deputy ministry, so far.

Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC) welcomed the introduction of low sulphur marine fuels but re-iterates safety concerns and urges for a realistic and pragmatic approach.

Cyprus Shipping recently achieved the successful prolongation of the Cyprus Shipping Taxation System for another 10 years by the European Commission, which had been submitted for official approval on 6 November 06, 2019.