Cyprus anger at flood of forged ship certificates

By Jean Christou

CYPRUS is to complain to the European Commission and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) about a flood of forged certificates uncovered during ship inspections at the island’s ports.

The complaint is being made after incidents of forged seafaring certificates came to a head last week with the arrival of the cargo ship Mubarak at Vassiliko, where it was detained.

Captain Andreas Constantinou, the senior marine surveyor at the Merchant Shipping Department said yesterday the Mubarak had been in appalling condition when it was inspected by Cypriot surveyors.

But what was even more alarming, according to Constantinou, was the fact that the ship’s officer turned out to be 20 years old and was suspected of carrying a forged Lebanese seafaring certificate.

“He was a 20-year-old kid who doesn’t speak English,” Constantinou said. “And the deficiencies of the ship were beyond imagination.”

The number of faults found was well over 100.

According to a story in yesterday’s issue of Lloyds List, which was confirmed by Constantinou, the Shipping Department has confiscated a large number of forged Lebanese, Liberian, Panamanian and other certificates, which have been used by seafarers attempting to validate other forged documents with “legal” ones issued under the authority of the Government of Honduras.

All of the Mubarak’s officers appeared to have forged certificates, some ‘verified’ by Honduras. Cyprus is referring the case to a sub-committee of the IMO, Constantinou said and is double-checking all Honduran-issued certificates. It will also demand original certification from seafarers. The latest incident is not the first.

Earlier this year, the Cypriot authorities announced that they had uncovered a possible international racket in fake ship certification, involving some 40 vessels trading under the flag of Equatorial Guinea.

Those in the island’s shipping circles say the authorities are fed up with the European Union’s critical attitude towards Cyprus’ open registry and its clampdown on Cypriot ships, while European countries seem to be doing little to uncover rackets such as those involving forged documentation.

“Cyprus expects Europe to take the same action on this issue,” a shipping source said.

“It is certain that hundreds of these documents will be found on ships in European ports”.

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.