By Jean Christou
CYPRUS could become a leader in international shipping if the problem of its flag’s image is resolved, the Cyprus Shipping Council (CSC) said yesterday.
In a pre-Maritime Cyprus news conference, CSC vice president Andreas Drushiotis said the local shipping industry was well respected worldwide for the safety standards and services offered.
But he added: “(It) could very easily be developed even further if the problem of the image of the flag was resolved, thereby allowing Cyprus to become a leader in international shipping.”
Drushiotis said the four-day Maritime Cyprus Conference, which opens on Sunday, was one of the most important gatherings of the international shipping community.
The title of this year’s conference, which is expected to attract 1,000 delegates, is ‘Shipping at the Dawn of a New Century’.
Cyprus has the sixth largest fleet in the world, with around 2,700 ships on its registry. Shipping brings in some £120-140 million a year and employs 4, 000 people on the island, more than half of whom are Cypriots.
“It is a well known fact that the main problem of the Cyprus flag in the last few years is its negative image which is due to the large number of detentions which relate to safety matters,” Drushiotis said.
He said the rate of detention led to Cyprus being black-listed by various countries, impairing the development of the industry.
The drop of Cyprus from fifth to sixth place on the world registry is due to a tightening up by the government on substandard ships in a move for the qualitative improvement of the Cyprus fleet.
Drushiotis said the EU had recently adopted a stricter policy towards possible substandard ships and this was reflected in the government’s new approach, which has seen the deletion and withdrawal of a number of ships from the registry.
The CSC is also pleased about the increase in the number of inspectors who have been appointed by the shipping department.
“The increased inspections of Cyprus ships by these independent surveyors and the surveyors of the Department of merchant Shipping in combination with the stricter policy enforced by our Maritime Administration on ships’ safety matters have had a positive effect on the number of Cypriot ships detained worldwide,” Drushiotis said.
However, he said that, despite the small improvement, the image of the flag was being further affected by the failure of the government to implement full computerisation of the Shipping department.
Drushiotis said the plan was so far behind schedule that its completion date was now set for the end of 2001.
“Further delays in the implementation of the system cannot be excused,” he said. “It is imperative to speed up the implementation of this vitally important measure.”
When the system is in place, it will make the Cyprus registry one of the most technologically advanced registries in the world, he added.
Overall, Drushiotis said the CSC was pleased with recent developments in the industry, creating a stricter and more progressive maritime policy which has already shown some positive results.
The CSC was established in 1989 with the aim to promote the interests of Cyprus shipping and to improve the image of the Cyprus flag as well as the interests of its members, both in Cyprus and abroad.
