Cyprus Transport Minister Marios Demetriades said that despite the financial crisis, shipping continued to be the steam engine of the world economy.
“Shipping is not only the most cost efficient method of international trade but also the most carbon efficient, as shown by its minor percentage contribution to the global greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector,” Demetriades told the International Maritime Forum, in Batumi, Georgia’s shipping capital, 13 September.
Noting that shipping was responsible for just 2% of global CO2 emissions, Demetriades said “there is no doubt that it [shipping] continues to be the steam engine of the world economy,”
Regarding the Cyprus registry the Minister said it “ranks among the leading ship registries internationally and has the third largest merchant fleet within the European Union”.
“The maintenance of a high quality fleet and the effective implementation of the internationally applicable standards for the safety of life at sea, the security of ships and port facilities, the protection of the marine environment and the standards for decent work on board ships, constitute the foundation on which Cyprus builds its reputation as a serious maritime flag and as a base for international operations,” he said.
Referring to the role of Cyprus within the IMO, Demetriades said the island plays a positive and constructive role in its efforts to achieve maritime safety and environmental protection, and was determined to continue.
“This is widely recognised among IMO members, which have been electing Cyprus as a Member of the IMO Council for the last 20 years,” he said.
He said Cyprus has concluded a strategy for its national integrated maritime policy.
“This integrated approach will allow Cyprus to exploit the resources and capabilities of the sea and contribute to an optimal and sustainable development of all related activities, the creation of new jobs and opportunities and the improvement of the quality of the marine environment,” he said.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.