Tag: Cyprus

Cyprus has once more submitted its candidacy for re-election Cyprus has once more submitted its candidacy for re-election to the International Maritime Council in category, C', Minister of Communications and Works Efthemios Flourentzou has said.''Our record and commitment to IMO is well known,'' Flourentzou said addressing the IMO's 27th Assembly of the organization taking place in London.Noting that piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia will be one of the preoccupations of the session, Flourentzou noted that ''Cyprus is seriously concerned by the despicable incidents which occur elsewhere and the unwillingness of the adjacent coastal States to take decisive actions against the perpetrators.''He noted that ''Cyprus is of the view that whilst continuing to pay attention to the Somalia-related situations, the Organization should also be focusing in other piracy hot-spots before the emerging trends become a very serious threat to shipping.''Source: Cyprus Daily News

Cyprus Government will not take any legal action against owners who engage armed guards Cyprus authorities have confirmed that they will not pursue legal or administrative action against owners or managers of Cyprus-flagged ships who use armed guards for the protection of their ships.In a "To Whom it May Concern" letter dated 16 September 2011, issued by the Director of the Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS), the DMS stated that:"...the Cyprus Government and this Department will not take any legal or administrative action against owners or managers of Cyprus flag ships who engage armed guards for the protection of their ships in the high risk areas".Following consultation with the DMS, and taking into account the fact that the Cyprus "Piracy Bill" which will regulate the use of armed guards on board Cyprus-flagged ships will be enacted soon anyway, the Chamber has been authorised to distribute the letter to its Members. To view the letter as sent on the 16 September, click here.Operators should decide to act upon the letter before the enactment of the Piracy Bill, are strongly advised to consult insurers before proceeding with the engagement of armed guards onboard ships.Source: INTERTANKO

Details of the new law will be discussed at the "Maritime Cyprus 2011" Cyprus is preparing legislation that will allow armed guards to board merchant ships to protect the crew, vessel and cargo from pirate attacks. Details of the new law will be discussed at the "Maritime Cyprus 2011" conference in Limassol that starts on Monday where some 700 delegates will also debate on trade issues such as energy costs, environment-friendly transport and the freight markets where costs have risen due to piracy and increased insurance.With the third biggest maritime fleet in the European Union and the tenth biggest in the world, Cyprus also boasts itself as the world leader in shipmanagement companies, all of whom are concerned about the safety of their ships.The government is at the final stage of concluding the draft bill which, when passed, will make it one of the most comprehensive of its kind and help restore some order in the maritime industry that relies on navies and private security companies for its safety."Of the 200-300 piracies that take place every year, only two Cyprus-flag ships were hijacked by pirates and both were released, one of which last week after being held in the eastern ...

Turkey-Cyprus Drilling Dispute Turkey is using its navy and air force to escort a ship conducting oil and gas exploration off Cyprus, an official said Tuesday, in the latest development in a dispute over the ownership of the divided island nation's natural resources.Cyprus is split into an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north. The southern government began exploratory drilling for oil and gas last week, prompting strong protests from Turkey, which doesn't recognize the Greek Cypriot administration.In response, Turkey signed an oil and gas exploration deal with the Turkish Cypriots and sent a Turkish research ship to the Mediterranean to start exploration. The breakaway Turkish Cypriot state is only recognized by Turkey, which maintains 35,000 troops there.Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only its south enjoys membership benefits."We will try all channels of peace, but we will also protect our country's interests until the end," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said Tuesday at an unrelated ceremony to mark the delivery of the first Turkish-made corvette warship to the navy.The Turkish research ship, Koca Piri Reis, began its exploration Monday, but Turkish and Turkish Cypriots officials refused to reveal the ship's exact ...

Issue of Seafarer's Identification and Sea Service Record Books Department of Merchant Shipping Lemesos issues circular regarding International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, STCW 78, as Amended- Issue of Seafarer's Identification and Sea Service Record Books and Endorsements Attesting the Recognition of Non Cyprus Certificate, as follows :I refer to the above subject and further to our circulars No. 14/2001 dated 29 June 2001, 26/2001 dated 19/12/2001, 3/2006 dated 25/01/2006, 13/2007 dated 21/05/2007 and 12/2011 dated 28/03/2011, I wish to inform that the list of Countries whose certificates of competency are presently recognised by the Republic of Cyprus is as per attached document.For more details, click hereSource: Department of Merchant Shipping Lemesos

Yıldız said Turkey would be exploring off the northern half of Cyprus Turkey's energy minister said on Thursday that a Turkish research ship will set sail for the Mediterranean to start oil and gas exploration.Taner Yıldız said the seismic research ship, the Piri Reis, would head for the Mediterranean on Friday.On Wednesday, Turkey marked its marine borders with Turkish Cyprus for offshore oil and gas drilling in response to a similar move by the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot half of the divided island.Yıldız said Turkey would be exploring off the northern half of the island.He said however, that some areas earmarked for exploration by Turkey "clashed" with those of the Greek Cypriot administration. He did not rule out future Turkish exploration in those areas too.Greek Cypriot leader urged the United Nations to tell Turkey to back off from threats over the divided island's offshore oil and gas drilling.Dimitris Christofias told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that Turkish naval maneuvers off the island's south coast where US firm Noble Energy is carrying out exploratory drilling constitutes a "provocative and real danger" for the region.Turkey strongly opposes drilling by the island's internationally recognized Greek Cypriot administration, saying it undermines the rights ...

Noble Energy will soon begin exploratory drilling U.S. firm Noble Energy will soon begin exploratory drilling to confirm oil and gas deposits beneath the sea bed off Cyprus' southern coast despite Turkey's attempts to prevent such a move, the island's president said on Tuesday.Dimitris Christofias didn't specify a date for the start of drilling which officials have said will begin early next month. Christofias he said surveys have so far shown a "very great possibility" of hydrocarbon deposits inside an 800,000-acre (1,250-square-mile) area that Cyprus has licensed Noble to explore.That area is close to large natural gas fields that Noble has recently discovered in Israeli waters.Christofias says decisions on how the hydrocarbons will be exploited will be made once drilling confirms their quantity and quality.Israeli energy company Delek, which is already working together with the Houston-based Noble Energy Inc., has already proposed a partnership with Cyprus to build a facility on the island for processing and exporting natural gas found in Israeli and Cypriot waters.Cyprus' energy service director, Solon Kassinis told lawmakers last week that natural gas could be pumped via a Noble-built pipeline as early as 2014.Christofias said the Cyprus government has lodged complaints with the United Nations and ...

12 people dead and 62 injured Cyprus'defense minister and national guard chief on Monday resigned after a massive explosion that flattened out a naval base and a power generating plant on the island, leaving at least 12 people dead and 62 injured."Defense Minister Costas Papacostas and National Guard Chief Petros Tsalikidis assumed responsibility for this tragic event and have submitted their resignation," said Stefanos Stefanou, the government spokesman.Their resignations have been accepted by President Demetris Christofias,the spokesman told press after an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers.Stefanou confirmed death toll of the massive explosion stood at 12, while 62 people have been hospitalized, two of them in critical condition. Military sources had earlier said that the death toll could be as high as 40. Among the dead are five fire fighters and seven officers and servicemen at the base. A three-day public mourning has been declared for the dead.The fire fighters had been called in the area to douse a bush fire which had broken out in the base some two hours before the explosion occurred at 5:50 a.m. local time (0250 GMT).Outgoing National Guard Chief Petros Tsalikidis had said that there had been explosions in two out of ...

10 people are feared to be dead A huge explosion tore through a naval base in southern Cyprus Monday, causing widespread damage, the Defense Ministry said. Around 10 people are feared dead.Spokeswoman Aliki Stylianou could not immediately confirm the cause of the explosion which occured at the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base on the Mediterranean island's southern coast at around 6 a.m. (0300GMT).State television CyBC reported that the explosion also caused numerous injuries and extensive damage to homes in villages near the naval base.State radio quoted National Guard Chief Petros Tsalikides who is at the naval base as saying that the explosion caused a "great catastrophe."Video broadcast on CyBC showed numerous damaged cars stopped along a stretch of highway near the naval base. One person who was in one of the cars passing the base at the time of the explosion told CyBC that it felt like "a bomb had been dropped on the car."Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said that a fire at a nearby Vasiliko power station has been contained.Cyprus Electricity Authority official Yiannis Tsouloftas said the power station -- the island's primary electricity generator -- sustained extensive damage as a result of the explosion's concussion wave and will remain ...