Ports try to attract foreign firms to Limassol

By Jennie Matthew

THE CYPRUS Ports Authority (CPA) is hoping to persuade two large foreign shipping companies to use Limassol port as their eastern Mediterranean hub, chairman Christos Hadjimanolis said yesterday.

The deal is part of the CPA’s multi-million pound plan to revitalise Limassol to compete with regional rivals, in particular Egyptian ports. Hadjimanolis told the Sunday Mail that the CPA had decided to invest £1.3 million to boost storage space to 60,000 square metres.

He hopes that port will be working 24 hours a day within months, and spelt out the need for more crane bridges.

“Speed is another factor. We need to improve the time it takes to load and unload. If we can bring more work, then it won’t be a problem to employ the required number of people,” he said.

The two shipping giants, based in the Middle East, together operate 20 ships, which Hadjimanolis said would be a significant investment.

The 13-vessel K. Line and seven-shipped Yiang Ming are anxious to secure a permanent base in the Middle East by spring 2002.

The CPA will give a presentation in London, early in the New Year, in a bid to sign a deal with at least one of the two companies.

When Minister of Communications and Works Averoff Neophytou was asked on Friday whether the government might assist the CPA with the necessary funds to upgrade Limassol port, he said: “If there is a need to improve, then why not. But if it will be a waste of money then certainly not.”

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.