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Cyprus Shipping Chamber: Honours "Day of the Seafarer" with a Blood Donation Drive

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber, organised its first of its two Blood Donation Drives for the year, which are organised annually for 30 years now, on 20 June 2023, at Agios Georgios Havouzas Church Hall, in Limassol, with the participation of a large number of employees from its Shipping Member-companies.

Knowing the need to maintain an adequate national blood supply, the Shipping Chamber tangibly contributes, with a number of loyal volunteer blood donors from the Shipping Industry, to the health of the Cyprus society. As a result of numerous other blood donations organised by the Shipping Chamber in the past, more than 3300 blood units have been collected, a commendable social service that has been honoured by the Blood Coordinating Committee of the Limassol District.

The Blood Donation Drive was held under the auspices of the Shipping Deputy Minister, on the occasion of the “International Day of the Seafarer”, which is celebrated by global Shipping community on 25 June, expressing its appreciation and underlining the important role Seafarers play in global Shipping.

Read our Newsletter for April & May 2023

Cyprus Shipping Chamber 34th Annual General Meeting held with great success and participation

The Cyprus Chamber of Shipping held its 34th Annual General Meeting with great success and participation, on Tuesday, 9 May 2023, at the "Four Seasons" hotel in Limassol, which has attended by State and Government dignitaries, Political Party representatives, Members of the House of Representatives, Diplomats, representatives of Professional Organisations and as well as by the resident Industry.

The General Meeting was addressed by the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, the President of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Annita Demetriou, the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which the Chamber has been a Member for 30 years, Mr. Guy Platten and by the President of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber, Mr. Themis Papadopoulos.

In his address, the President of the Republic, praised and congratulated the Cyprus Shipping Chamber for its continuous contribution and active involvement in the further development of Cyprus Shipping and emphasised the commitment of the new Government to continue the close cooperation with the Chamber and provide the necessary political support to the Shipping Industry, through the quick introduction of specific mechanisms necessary to further strengthen the sector.

The President of the House of Representatives, mentioned that the fact that Shipping has remained a strong and steady pillar of Cyprus economy, despite the challenges that are faced by the global economy, is commendable and admirable. She also reaffirmed, οn behalf of all the Members of the House of Representatives, the Parliament’s commitment to work closely with the Chamber, for the advancement of the Shipping sector in Cyprus.

In his address, the Secretary General of ICS, congratulated the Chamber’s President, Mr. Themis Papadopoulos, for his recent re-election as one of the Vice-Presidents of ICS and thanked the Chamber for its longstanding input into ICS work, thus help shaping a better future for International Shipping. In relation to the Industry’s decarbonisation efforts, stated that collaboration across the entire value chain is the only way we can forge a path to a decarbonised future.

Finally, the President of the Chamber, reviewed the challenges and developments that took place in 2022 in relation to Cyprus Shipping and the Chamber’s activities towards the further development of the sector. He also mentioned that Shipping is one of the most serious economic pillars of the country and enhances the prestige of Cyprus, as a superpower in Shipping. Therefore, he emphasised, among other matters, the need for the immediate completion of the “One-Stop-Shipping-Center” at the Shipping Deputy Ministry and the swift preparation and approval of the regulations for the implementation of the “Shipping Company with Limited Liability”. In relation to the longstanding Turkish Embargo to Cyprus ships, he asked for concrete support of the Government and Diplomats to use their influence to immediately lift this illegal restriction. In addition, he stated the commitment of the Chamber to continue its efforts for the fast and sustainable green transition of the Shipping Industry, through its active involvement in regional and international Shipping organisations, which represents the resident Industry for many years now.

During the Meeting, elections were also held for the new twelve Board of Directors of the Chamber for the period 2023-2025. Mr. Themis Papadopoulos was re-elected as President of the Chamber for a second two-year term with eleven top-level esteemed professionals from the Chamber’s Member-companies.

CSC welcomes the approval of the new EU ETS law by EU Parliament

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber welcomes the formal approval of the new EU ETS law yesterday by the European Parliament. The law embraces the calls of European Shipowners through the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), to earmark revenues generated by EU ETS allowances, to facilitate the decarbonisation of the shipping industry.

At least 20 million ETS allowances, which correspond to around 2 billion Euro under the current ETS carbon price, will be allocated to maritime projects under the Innovation Fund, for the uptake of research and innovation to facilitate the production of cleaner fuels and the effective energy transition of the maritime sector.

Moreover, the EU Parliament upheld the mandatory pass-through of ETS costs to the commercial operator of the vessel, supporting the “polluter-pays principle”, which was another ECSA proposal and the three year phase-in period for the gradual inclusion of emissions from shipping.

While this development is indeed a groundbreaking achievement for European Shipping, the Chamber strongly supports ECSA’s position, that, it is also essential that the “Net Zero Industry Act” properly recognises the strategic role of shipping in Europe’s security, competitiveness, and autonomy by including the development of dedicated production capacity of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) in the Act’s definition.

The Chamber is firmly committed to continue contributing, through ECSA, towards the EU’s efforts to accelerate a sustainable and just green transition of the maritime sector.

Read “The Voice” for February & March 2023