Department Of Merchant Shipping News

Verifavia, the world’s leading emissions verification company for the transport sector (aviation and shipping), announced that it has become the first independent verifier authorised by the Panama Maritime Authority to conduct the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Data Collection System (DCS) verification services for vessels registered in Panama. Through this authorisation granted by Panama, Verifavia will offer its IMO DCS and EU MRV verification services to the world’s largest ship registry – with over 8,000 registered vessels accounting for circa 222.1 million gross tonnes and representing 18% of the global fleet. With the Panama accreditation inked…

Security consultancy Eos Risk Management has been certified by The Republic of Cyprus for the provision of security services for vessels registered with its flag administration. The Cypriot Ministry of Transport Communications and Work awarded certified status to Eos Risk Management Limited as an approved Private Ship Security Company on December 4, 2015, via the Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS), (Against Acts of Piracy and Other Unlawful Acts Law (2012) – (Law 77(i) of 2012). The Cypriot Register is the 10th largest merchant fleet in the world and an important voice within merchant marine, with many leading shipping companies maintaining Cypriot offices.

The government of Cyprus will support and bolster growth of the country’s maritime sector, Marios Demetriades, minister of transport, communications and works, said, reports In-Cyprus. “I would like to assure you that the Cyprus government is fully committed to safeguarding the shipping and maritime sector by doing the utmost to guarantee continuous sustainable growth,” Demetriades said. “Our shipping industry has been one of Cyprus’s most successful export services and constitutes a valuable asset,” he said. The industry currently contributes 7% to the island's GDP, and with the launch of a new maritime strategy, Anastasiades believes maritime will "contribute significantly", saying that he is devoted to "safeguarding the sector".

Cyprus President  Nicos Anastasiades reiterated his Government’s strong support towards the shipping industry and determination to introduce those mechanisms necessary to further enhance it. “I understand from Minister Demetriades that the study is nearing completion and I am, therefore, eager to learn about its findings and see a well-structured `Shipping Strategy` being designed, in order to take Cyprus Shipping into the future” he added. Nicos said he was grateful to the shipping industry, which had managed to help support the economy through the crisis. The sector had managed to escape the brunt “through fully utilizing the comparative advantages Cyprus offers to the shipping industry”.

The Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS) has licensed the AdvanFort Company, a world-leading provider of maritime security solutions for the commercial shipping industry, to supply the services of armed and unarmed escort guards on those of its flagged vessels transiting piracy high-risk areas, it was announced today. The decision by Cypriot authorities comes just six months following similar approval by the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) to conduct counter-piracy operations aboard vessels flying the Panama flag.

The Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping accredited Gulf of Aden Group Transits Ltd. (GoAGT) to provide armed guards onboard Cyprus flagged vessels. The accreditation was gained in only three months following initial submission, less than half the normal time estimated to achieve this. There are currently only 18 Private Maritime Security Companies approved by the Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping to service the Cypriot market. This follows accreditation by Panama, and GoAGT remains committed to achieving ISO28007 international maritime security accreditation. www.goagt.org

World renowned maritime security specialist Ambrey Risk has been awarded accreditation to work with Cyprus-flagged vessels. The UK-based security company, which won a Chamber of Commerce award for business growth last year, became the first UK maritime security company to be granted official accreditation from the Cyprus Maritime Authority, on 13th February 2013, sanctioning the services of armed and unarmed escort guards on vessels transiting piracy high risk areas. Ambrey Risk…

A salvage operation began on Sunday to prevent Castor -- a stricken petrol tanker lying off Spain -- from cracking open and spilling thousands of tons of gasoline into the western Mediterranean, Cyprus, the flag state, said. "The salvor told us the salvage operation started today. He is quite optimistic that it will be successful," a senior surveyor at the Cypriot department of merchant shipping said. Authorities had earlier said the Castor might have to be blown up as a last resort if the salvage operation failed. Castor has proven to be somewhat of an enigma, and is sure to raise the level of discussion around the world regarding ships in distress. Castor, laden with 29,500 tons of gasoline, developed a 20-metre (60-foot) crack in its deck on December 31.

A stricken petrol tanker stranded in the Mediterranean is being towed eastwards in search of calm waters to continue a salvage operation, the Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping said on Tuesday. Castor, registered in Limassol, Cyprus, formed a 60 ft. crack in its deck after a storm on December 31 and is now in international waters some 40 miles off Malta. It was being taken eastwards in the hope that an operation to discharge all of its 29,500 ton cargo of unleaded gasoline could continue, the department said. "A convoy of salvors is following the vessel. The salvors hope to find calm seas," said Captain Andreas Constantinou, a senior surveyor at the department.

Salvors working in open seas have managed to safely discharge a petrol cargo from a damaged Cypriot tanker in the Mediterranean, averting the risk of an environmental disaster. The salvage operation on the Castor, which has been sailing off Malta with a long crack on its deck, was completed on Thursday. All 29,500 tons of unleaded gasoline were successfully discharged. "The ship is now due to be towed to Pireaus. Once it gets there the damage will be assessed," said Andreas Constantinou of the Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS). The 18,565 gross ton Castor developed a 60 ft. crack above one of its petrol deposits after it was damaged in a storm in the western Mediterranean on December 31 while sailing from Ukraine to Lagos, Nigeria.

Investigators hoping to find the cause of why an assumed healthy ship developed a near fatal deckplate crack - an incident which led to a 39-day saga which will serve as an impetus for change in the rules of the way ships in distress are handled - have issued a preliminary report. Following an exhaustive inspection and analysis of the damaged product tanker Castor, the Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping and ABS have jointly announced preliminary findings that point to hyper-accelerated corrosion as the probable principal cause behind the structural failure. "The Castor has become a floating laboratory which is providing us with some surprising findings," said ABS Chairman and CEO Frank J. Iarossi.

Few marine incidents have vexed the collective international marine community as much as the recent situation with the damaged product tanker Castor, a ship, which experienced a near fatal deckplate crack in mid-voyage and then was denied safe harbor for fear of the ship splitting open and spewing its gasoline cargo. Though the ship was eventually docked safely without environmental incident, the name Castor will serve as a lightning rod in the IMO to more firmly establish rules and procedures for ships in distress at sea. As the political wrangling and finger pointing start to subside, attention is now turned on the ship itself, and more accurately finding out the reason that an assumed healthy ship developed a near fatal deckplate crack.

Senior Cypriot maritime officials fended off criticism from delegates over the Cyprus fleet's detention rate, claiming the flag is being victimized. Cyprus has conveyed its feelings of grievance on the issue to the European Commission and is in the process of substantiating its claims, officials said. According to the Paris memorandum on safety, Cyprus, a candidate for European Union membership, has a 20 percent detention rate, compared to seven percent for other EU member states. The island has only managed to reduce this figure by one percent in the past two years. "When a flag is being targeted, you cannot draw inferences on the whole fleet on the basis of the results," said Serghios Serghiou, director of the Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS).