Over 1,000 delegates for shipping conference

OVER 1,000 participants from 35 countries will attend this year’s Maritime Cyprus Conference, which will be held from October 3 to 6.

At a press conference to announce the conference yesterday, Communications and Works Ministry Permanent Secretary Vassos Pyrgos said Cyprus now ranked sixth on the world’s list of shipping fleets, with 2,667 vessels and a gross tonnage of 26.5 million.

The theme of this year’s conference, which is organised by the government, the Central Bank and the Cyprus Shipping Council is ‘Shipping at the Dawn of a New Century’.

The list of main speakers includes William O Neil, Secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and George Vassiliou, Cyprus’ chief negotiator for EU accession.

The conference will focus on the latest developments in the shipping industry in the EU and other topics of interest to the international maritime community.

Pyrgos said that over the past few years Cyprus had worked hard to upgrade its image and the quality of its fleet.

The island’s open registry has frequently come under fire for its open registry.

“A lot has been done in the prevention of sea pollution and the improvement of working conditions on Cyprus’ ships, which creates hopes for a higher standard of safety,” Pyrgos said.

He said harmonisation of the island’s shipping industry with EU laws created new needs in terms of ship quality and safety. He added these were expected to be fulfilled by the year 2000.

Pyrgos said there had been 120 accidents involving Cypriot-flagged ships in 1998, which resulted in the death of 28 seafarers and the loss of five ships.

So far this year, there are been 53 accidents, which resulted in the death of nine people and the loss of three ships.

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.