It has 1,857 ocean going vessels of a gross tonnage exceeding 21 million – and is continuously upgrading its services in order to offer a high standard of support to international shipping and a reputation of a ‘Flag of Progress’, according to the Department of Merchant Shipping.

Cyprus is a leading ship-management centre with 60 companies based on the island. Several of these companies rank among the largest in their category. Cyprus also ranks among the top five countries in the world with the largest number of third party ship-management companies.

Among the ship-management companies based in Cyprus, 87% are controlled by Cypriot and EU interests. They employ 40,000 seafarers out of whom 5,000 are EU nationals.

The share of the fleet managed from Cyprus in the world ship-management market constitutes another interesting aspect – according to government estimates, the total fleet managed from Cyprus represents 20% of the world third–party ship-management sector (out of 10,000 ships in the world ship-management market).

Source: Financial Mirror