Port costs to be reduced in bid to clinch £2 million deal

By Aline Davidian

AN AGREEMENT to cut port costs was reached yesterday between licensed stevedores, trade unions and the Cyprus Port Authority (CPA), which it is hoped will attract much-needed foreign shipping lines to the island’s beleaguered ports.

The agreement was reached in the wake of a recent proposal by a major German-Dutch shipping company to use Cyprus ports as cargo transfer points. The proposal, however, demanded lower port costs.

The company in question ships an estimated 200,000 containers a year, potentially providing Cypriot ports with over £2 million per annum.

In a bid to clinch the deal, the parties have therefore agreed to reduce port loading and unloading costs by 17 per cent, those of licensed stevedores by 10 per cent and Port Authority costs by 40 per cent.

The new prices are to be put to the shipping company by the CPA over the next few days.

The Cypriot port industry has been in dire straits for some time now, facing increased competition from ports in the Middle East, in particular Port Said in Egypt. This operates round the clock and has lower costs than Limassol. Cypriot ports also suffer from a lack of equipment and storage space for containers.

These problems are shortly to be discussed in a high profile seminar on the container shipping industry, taking place in Nicosia on December 8 and 9. This is being organised by the Dubai Conference Division of the Institute for International research.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.