The Establishment of the Commercial Court and Admiralty Court and the adoption of the Shipping Limited Liability Company
By Dr. Iliana Christodoulou-Varotsi | Senior Legal Consultant & Lead Trainer
Ranked as the 3rd largest fleet in the EU, Cyprus flag is expected to benefit from a number of recent legislative developments which are of great interest to the shipping community.
The statutory developments discussed in this short update clearly point that recently adopted legislation aims to align Cyprus law with current trends concerning the administration of justice, including addressing specialised or high value cases; at the same time the developments in question underpin the shipping orientation and ambition of the island as a competitive flag and an international business centre.
In a nutshell:
In May 2022, the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus adopted Law 69(I)/2022 which set forth two new specialist courts with an international vocation for technical cases, i.e. the Commercial Court and the Admiralty Court.
The Law is titled Law on the Establishment and Operation of the Commercial Court and the Admiralty Court of 2022 (Ο περί της Ίδρυσης και Λειτουργίας Εμπορικού Δικαστηρίου και Ναυτοδικείου Νόμος του 2022). At the time of writing this update, the new courts were under development.
The new courts should normally contribute to alleviating the workload of District Courts. It is noteworthy that following an amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, the new specialist courts under discussion will have the possibility, upon conditions, to use the English language, including for the conduct of court proceedings and the filing of documents.
Additional developments stem from the adoption in October 2022 of Law 161(Ι)/2022 which set forth the Shipping Limited Liability Company (SLLC).
The Shipping Limited Liability Company Law of 2022 (Ο περί Ναυτιλιακής Εταιρείας Περιορισμένης Ευθύνης Νόμος (Ν.Ε.Π.Ε.) του 2022) states the sole purpose of the new corporate entity, which is the ownership and operation of a Cyprus ship. It is clear that the ambition of Law 161(I)/2022, which has not entered into force yet, is to contribute to the creation of a one-stop-shipping-framework for ship-owning companies using the Cyprus flag.
The Law is a lengthy instrument with 115 articles. Secondary legislation is required under Section 114 in view of its implementation.
This aspect, which is critical for the entry into force and the implementation of the Law at large, is currently pending.
In greater detail:
-Law 69(I)/2022 -Specialist Commercial Court and Admiralty Court
According to the Preamble of Law 69(I)/2022, the establishment of the new specialist courts that will adjudicate commercial and admiralty cases at first instance was considered necessary in view of expediting dispute resolution.
The Law also states in its introductory part that it seeks to ensure that justice is administered more effectively. The enhancement of competitiveness in Cyprus as a centre of qualitative services attracting foreign investments, thus contributing to the long-term economic development of the Republic of Cyprus, are additional goals. It is interesting to take note of the rationale of the legislator in the introductory part of the statute.
The reasoning in detail underpinning the adoption of laws is commonly found in the explanatory notes in the legislative process in Cyprus rather than in the statutes. This may be indicative of the importance attributed by the legislator to the reasons which have prompted the creation of the new courts. That said, the Commercial court will be competent to hear and determine any commercial dispute at first instance provided that the amount at dispute or the value of the dispute exceeds two million Euros.
However, there are disputes that the court can examine regardless of the amount or value involved (competition law disputes, intellectual property law disputes, arbitration related matters). Territorial jurisdiction of the Commercial Court is set forth in Section 12.
The appetite of the regulator to see Cyprus becoming a dispute resolution centre via law and jurisdiction clauses in private contracts referring to Cypriot courts, is obvious.
The Admiralty Court is regulated in Part III of the Law (14 sections). The Admiralty Court will be competent to examine at first instance any admiralty case («[…] επί πάσης ναυτικής υπόθεσης»). Admiralty cases are broadly defined for the purposes of the Law in Section 2.
Regardless of the amount involved, claims range, for example, from those concerning the possession and ownership of the vessel to claims in relation to vessel towing or to the mortgage or lien over a vessel. The influence of English admiralty law can be seen in numerous provisions and comes as no surprise.
-Law 161(Ι)/2022 – Shipping Limited Liability Company (SLLC)
As noted in the relevant circular of the Cypriot maritime administration, “The enactment of Law 161(I)/2022 constitutes the implementation of action no. 14 of the new Long-Term National Strategy for Cyprus Shipping “Sea Change 2030”, adopted in October 2021 by the Council of Ministers and aims to simplify the procedures and operating regime of Cypriot shipping companies that own Cyprus ships” (Circular 31/2022, 21.12.2022).
Law 161(I)/2022 regulates registration and incorporation of the new corporate entity. It has been influenced by the provisions of the Cyprus Companies Law (Cap. 113), which has been the legal framework of reference for shipping companies. However, there are noteworthy differences between the Companies Law and the SLLC in view of simplifying certain aspects.
Furthermore, under the new Law, the Cyprus Shipping Deputy Ministry, which is also the Registrar of Cyprus – flagged ships, will become the competent authority for the registration of SLLC.
It is worth mentioning, that shipping companies owning Cyprus ships already registered as limited liability companies in Cyprus will have the right, upon conditions, to request transfer to the new SLLC Register (Section 104 of the Law).
A last highlight is that the Law regulates electronic signatures in relation to documentation, which can be seen as a step towards modernization and simplification.
Concluding remarks
The first expectation is to see the above-mentioned specialist courts becoming fully operational, and serving smoothly the vocation for which they were designed.
The adoption of secondary legislation (regulations) concerning SLLC is also a matter which deserves close attention.
The ultimate objective is to see both instruments contributing to the modernization of the Cypriot legal framework which governs the flag of the 11th largest merchant fleet globally while surrounding the activities of a vibrant shipping business centre.
Κυπριακή Ναυτιλία: Αρμενίζοντας με ξεκάθαρη πορεία πλεύσης προς την περαιτέρω ανάπτυξη και βιώσιμη πράσινη μετάβαση
Γράφει: ο Θωμάς Α. Καζάκος | Γενικός Διευθυντής, Κυπριακό Ναυτιλιακό Επιμελητήριο
Η πορεία πλεύσης της Κυπριακής Ναυτιλίας παραμένει σταθερή και ξεκάθαρη πάρα τις όποιες αντίξοες συνθήκες έχοντας έτσι μια σταθερή συνεισφορά στην Κυπριακή Οικονομία στο 7% του ΑΕΠ της χώρας, ποσοστό που αντιστοιχεί γύρω στο 1,2 δισεκατομμύρια ευρώ, χωρίς την ανάγκη κρατικών επενδύσεων και με επιτυχημένη δραστηριοποίηση επί παγκόσμιας βάσης. Παρά τον έντονο διεθνή ανταγωνισμό που έχει να αντιμετωπίσει καθημερινώς, η Κυπριακή Ναυτιλία, συνεχίζει να απασχολεί γύρω στις 9.000 υψηλά καταρτισμένους υπαλλήλους και 55.000 ναυτικούς, προσφέροντας πολυάριθμες θέσεις εργασίας. Επίσης, έχει τον 11ο μεγαλύτερο στόλο παγκοσμίως και 3ο στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, γεγονός που τοποθετεί την Κύπρο ανάμεσα στα κράτη με ισχυρή επιρροή στον τομέα της Ναυτιλίας και αποτελεί το 3ο μεγαλύτερο κέντρο πλοιοδιαχείρισης στον κόσμο και το μεγαλύτερο στην Ευρώπη.
Η πιο πάνω σημαντική οικονομική συνεισφορά της αλλά και οι ουσιώδεις υπηρεσίες που προσφέρει η Ναυτιλιακή Βιομηχανία, στη διαβίωση και πρόοδο της Κύπρου, κάνουν την απρόσκοπτη λειτουργία της, ως αναπόσπαστο κομμάτι της αλυσίδας εφοδιασμού, ακόμα πιο αναγκαία και αξία διαφύλαξης.
Μια από τις κυριότερες προκλήσεις που κυριαρχεί σε διεθνές επίπεδο αφορά τις προσπάθειες του ναυτιλιακού τομέα να πετύχει τους στόχους απανθρακοποίησής του χωρίς παράπλευρες απώλειες ως προς την ανταγωνιστικότητά του και των υπηρεσιών θαλάσσιων μεταφορών τροφοδοτώντας ποικιλοτρόπως τον κόσμο και επιχειρήσεις, κάτι το οποίο, εάν διαταρασσόταν, θα έπληττε κατευθείαν την οικονομική ανάπτυξη και την ευημερία παγκοσμίως. Παρότι τα πλοία αποτελούν τα λιγότερο ρυπογόνα μέσα μεταφορών, η ναυτιλιακή βιομηχανία συνεχίζει μεθοδικά τις προσπάθειες αυτές με σκοπό την όσο το δυνατόν πιο γρήγορη και βιώσιμη πράσινη μετάβασή της.
Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τη σταθερή ηγετική θέση της Κυπριακής Ναυτιλίας στον παγκόσμιο χάρτη και τις απτές προοπτικές περαιτέρω ανάπτυξης με άμεσο όφελος στην Κυπριακή Οικονομία, στην αγορά εργασίας και πόλο έλξης υγειών ξένων επενδύσεων, είναι επωφελές, όχι μόνο να συνεχιστεί, αλλά και να ενδυναμωθεί η κρατική/πολιτική υποστήριξή της, στις τρέχουσες ανάγκες της, με τα προτεινόμενα από την Κυπριακή Ναυτιλιακή Βιομηχανία βελτιωτικά μέτρα. Κάθε ναυτιλιακά αναπτυγμένη χώρα, χρειάζεται να ανταποκρίνεται γρήγορα σε διεθνείς ναυτιλιακές και οικονομικές εξελίξεις, καθώς και άλλα εθνικά ανταγωνιστικά λειτουργικά πλαίσια, για να μπορεί να διατηρεί την “ελκυστικότητά” της προς τις ναυτιλιακές εταιρείες που δραστηριοποιούνται εντός της επικράτειάς της.
Σημαντικό βελτιωτικό μέτρο θα αποτελέσει η άμεση δημιουργία ενός εξειδικευμένου Μονοθυριδικού Ναυτιλιακού Κέντρου Εξυπηρέτησης (“One-Stop-Shipping-Centre”) στο Υφυπουργείο Ναυτιλίας και η άμεση και πλήρης ψηφιοποίηση/αυτοματοποίηση των υπηρεσιών του Υφυπουργείου, το οποίο θα αναβαθμίσει σημαντικά τις παρεχόμενες υπηρεσίες του στην Κυπριακή Ναυτιλιακή Βιομηχανία, σε βαθμό που να ικανοποιούν τις συνεχώς μεταλλασσόμενες λειτουργικές ανάγκες του 11ου παγκοσμίως και 3ου μεγαλύτερου εμπορικού στόλου στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση. Ταυτόχρονα γίνεται ακόμα πιο ελκυστική η εικόνα της Κύπρου ως ένα σύγχρονο, ποιοτικό και βιώσιμο ναυτιλιακό κέντρο, το οποίο προσφέρει ένα φιλικό επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον με ενισχυμένες υπηρεσίες και εξυπηρέτηση, προσελκύοντας περισσότερες ναυτιλιακές εταιρείες στην Κύπρο.
Η προτεινόμενη αυτή νέα υπηρεσία “Fast-Track”, θα έχει ως σκοπό την άμεση διεκπεραίωση των υπηρεσιών προς τη Ναυτιλιακή Βιομηχανία, έχοντας γρήγορη πρόσβαση σε όλες τις σχετικές κρατικές αρχές / Υπουργεία και θα ασχολείται με θέματα σύστασης και λειτουργίας ναυτιλιακών εταιρειών, θέματα Κυπριακού Νηολογίου, φορολογικά ζητήματα Εμπορικής Ναυτιλίας, επιλεγμένα θέματα Κράτους Σημαίας, εργασιακά θέματα που αφορούν υπαλλήλους της, όπως εγγραφής στο Τμήμα Μετανάστευσης πολιτών χωρών Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης (ΕΕ), έκδοσης σχετικών βεβαιώσεων, καθώς επίσης, και θέματα έκδοσης αδειών παραμονής και εργασίας στην Κύπρο πολιτών Χωρών εκτός Ε.Ε. που θα εργοδοτούνται από Ναυτιλιακές Εταιρείες.
Σημαντική ώθηση περαιτέρω ανάπτυξης και βελτίωσης της ανταγωνιστικότητας της Κυπριακής Σημαίας στη Διεθνή Ναυτιλία, καθώς και την απλούστευση των διαδικασιών και του καθεστώτος λειτουργίας των Κυπριακών ναυτιλιακών εταιρειών που είναι ιδιοκτήτες Κυπριακών πλοίων αποτελεί επίσης η πρόσφατη ομόφωνη έγκριση νομοσχεδίου για τη δημιουργία Ναυτιλιακής Εταιρείας Περιορισμένης Ευθύνης (Ν.Ε.Π.Ε.) από τη Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων. Το Επιμελητήριο εργάζεται στενά με το Υφυπουργείο Ναυτιλίας για την άμεση εφαρμογή του χρόνιου αυτού αιτήματος της Ναυτιλιακής Βιομηχανίας.
Ακόμα μια εισήγηση του Ναυτιλιακού Επιμελητηρίου, είναι η δημιουργία ενός Εξειδικευμένου Χρηματοδοτικού Οργανισμού στον Τομέα της Ναυτιλίας και ευρύτερα των Μεταφορών, ο οποίος θα επικεντρώνεται αποκλειστικά στην παροχή δανείων για την αγορά πλοίων ή άλλων μορφών μεταφοράς, μέσω της χρηματοδοτικής στήριξης άλλων περιφερειακών χρηματοδοτικών οργανισμών, υποστηρίζοντας τις προσπάθειες “Πράσινου” Μετασχηματισμού του Τομέα, καθώς η υπάρχουσα δομή δανεισμού αγοράς πλοίων από Κυπριακές εμπορικές τράπεζες δεν μπορεί να καλύψει τις υψηλού μεγέθους και εξειδικευμένες ανάγκες παροχής λειτουργικής ρευστότητας σε Πλοιοκτήτριες εταιρείες. Θα δώσει σημαντική ώθηση στους πλοιοκτήτες της Κυπριακής Σημαίας να εντείνουν τις προσπάθειές τους για απανθρακοποίηση της Ναυτιλίας με ταυτόχρονη ελαχιστοποίηση των επιπτώσεων στη βιωσιμότητα του κλάδου.
Πέραν των πιο πάνω προκλήσεων, η Κυπριακή Ναυτιλιακή Βιομηχανία καλείται να αντιμετωπίσει καθημερινά το διεθνή ναυτιλιακό ανταγωνισμό, έχοντας το μεγάλο μειονέκτημα του Τουρκικού Εμπάργκο στα πλοία υπό Κυπριακή σημαία, αλλά επίσης, και σε πλοία των οποίων η διαχείριση παρέχεται από Κυπριακές εταιρείες πλοιοδιαχείρισης. Από το 1987, αποτελεί την “Αχίλλειο Πτέρνα” της Κυπριακής Σημαίας, παρεμποδίζοντας την περαιτέρω ουσιαστική ανάπτυξη του Κυπριακού Νηολογίου. Καθίσταται λοιπόν επάναγκες, να ακολουθηθεί μία πολύ-επίπεδη διεκδικητική εκστρατεία από την Κυπριακή Πολιτεία τόσον στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση αλλά και διεθνώς για την άσκηση μέγιστης πίεσης στην Τουρκία να άρει άμεσα αυτή την παράνομη απαγόρευση, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τις πρόσφατες γεωπολιτικές εξελίξεις στην Ευρώπη και ειδικά, την στάση που τήρησε η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση στην περίπτωση της Ουκρανίας.
Είναι φανερό πως ο ρόλος της Κυπριακής Ναυτιλίας ως βασικός πυλώνας στήριξης και μελλοντικής περαιτέρω ανάπτυξης της οικονομίας και ευημερίας της χώρας μας αλλά και η σημαντική θέση που έχει διεθνώς, καθιστούν αδήριτη την ανάγκη υλοποίησης και εφαρμογής των πιο πάνω βασικών προτεραιοτήτων. Το Κυπριακό Ναυτιλιακό Επιμελητήριο επομένως εστιάζει σε αυτές, συνεχίζοντας ταυτόχρονα την τριαντατετράχρονη πολυδιάστατη δράση του σε όλα τα θέματα που αφορούν τη Ναυτιλία, με στόχο τη συνεχή αναβάθμιση της ανταγωνιστικότητας της Κυπριακής Ναυτιλίας και τη διασφάλιση των συμφερόντων των εταιρειών-Μελών του σε τοπικό και διεθνές επίπεδο.
Digital Twins in maritime sector
By Haris Zacharatos, PhD | CEO, Cellock Ltd | www.cellock.com
The maritime sector has always been on the cutting edge of technology improvement, and one such technical advancement that has made possible in recent years is the notion of a digital twin.
A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical asset or system that allows for real-time examination of its performance and behavior. Digital twins have become more important in the context of maritime operations because they have the ability to optimize operations, save costs, and increase safety.
The design of a digital twin is motivated by a system-specific and user-defined outcome, and it relies on physical virtual integration and historical and real-time data to build present representations and forward-looking models optimizing decision-making and effective action. One key aspect of the digital twin is the “twinning”: the synchronization of the virtual and physical states via measurement of the physical entity and the related update of the virtual entity so that both states are “equal”.
Digital twins can completely transform how maritime operations are controlled. A digital twin, for example, may be used to monitor a ship’s performance, forecast repair needs, and improve its operations. By decreasing downtime and maintenance expenses, this can result in considerable cost savings.
Furthermore, digital twins may be utilized to mimic various circumstances like as weather, traffic congestion, and other elements that might affect a ship’s performance. This can help operators make educated judgments and devise successful tactics for dealing with certain events.
Digital twins can also increase maritime safety by discovering possible safety issues and establish effective risk management methods by giving a virtual version of an asset. A digital twin, for example, can be utilized in the instance of a port to highlight possible safety issues such as congestion or equipment failure. This data may be utilized to create effective safety measures that reduce the chance of accidents.
The benefits of digital twins in maritime operations extend beyond ships and ports. They may also be utilized to improve the operations of offshore platforms, drilling rigs, and other industry assets. Digital twins can be used to monitor asset performance, forecast maintenance needs, and improve operations by giving a virtual version of these assets.
Enable holistic understanding
There are three levels to enable holistic understanding of Cyprus maritime ecosystem:
1) Understanding what exists and what is happening now.
Digital twins enable maritime stakeholders to accurately report on what exists, how it was built and commissioned, and monitor operational performance in real time from a single asset or process up to the level of the whole Cyprus maritime ecosystem including all assets, processes, as well as any environment factors to which they are connected. Three technological approaches allow better awareness:
Assets and system information management, allows the capture of the design of the system, to share a common understanding to align stakeholders on what is built now, how it has been built, and what are the expected operational performances.
Sensors integrated with digital twins allow efficient monitoring of machinery, assets, products, images, and other resources, giving a clear and accurate understanding of what is happening now. Additionally, historical operational data, provided in time series, delivers insights into what has happened in the past, with the possible combination of design data, to explain the current situation and detect anomalies. Internet of Things (IoT) can be deployed at scale on the physical system.
Other meaningful data such us processes, economic indexes, resources as well as transaction data can be leveraged to provide a consistent view and model of the resources at many levels.
From a single asset or process to an entire system, digital twins can offer at this stage, through the descriptive modelling of components as well as the interconnections of environments, a holistic representation of what is built as well as the monitoring of performance of the maritime Cyprus ecosystem now, connected to its environment, and explaining the current situation with historical design and operational data.
2) Understanding the future
Building from the first level of insight generated by system monitoring, additional value can be provided to maritime stakeholders by predicting how the system will evolve, and what is likely to happen in the future using Artificial Intelligence.
– Learning and extrapolating from historical data are effective to know what will happen in the future for common situations that have been observed in the past. Predictions about the future state of the system are made based on correlations and trends in the gathered data about assets and processes within the system.
– Simulation of the system is especially effective for cases where there is significant complexity in the system and for uncommon situations. The greater the diversity, interdependence, and interconnection in a system, the more likely simulation will be required to interpret the impact of system-level events on individual processes and sub-systems, and vice-versa. Under conditions that have never or only occurred infrequently before, and for extended timeline predictions in the future, simulation based on the dynamic behaviour of the maritime ecosystem allows for the detection of emerging behaviours, predicting scenarios that have not happened before, and forecasting long term results with greater reliability.
3) Understanding how to act and control performances
Once a maritime stakeholder has the capacity to understand the current and future state of their system via their digital twin, they can begin to assess the robustness of their plans to uncertainty, test alternative plans via simulation scenarios, and optimize their performance.
The digital twin represents the virtual environment for such experimentation by combining monitoring and predictive capacity with scenario testing, sensitivity analysis, robustness testing, and optimization technologies.
Uncertainties can be included in the model and the most influential variables can be identified to optimize alternative scenarios for planning resilience, and ultimately, automatically identify the most robust strategy or operational response.
Digital twins have the capacity to deliver this holistic understanding for maritime ecosystems, but they rely on deploying five key components:
The five key components required to achieve holistic value with a digital twin are:
– Data connections, such as Satellite, and IoT sensors, scenarios, design, and operational data, to enable real-world synchronization.
– Descriptive models to accurately inform, monitor and react.
– Predictive models, such as Simulation or Machine learning to anticipate situations and provide awareness of the evolution of a system.
– Common ontologies and a common modelling language to guarantee consistency.
– Analytics services to detect trends and anomalies, trigger user notifications, test alternative scenarios and robustness, optimize and control automation.
This holistic understanding of such a complex system such us the maritime one is important for making the best risk assessment choices. Digital twins provide this holistic understanding in real-time by offering a view of the whole system, the capacity to predict its future state, and ensuring its control and optimization. This new type of real-time information and projection into the future in the short and long term transforms the decision-making process in three ways:
a) a reduction in the decision cycle time to near zero
b) greater anticipation and less reactive decision making, shifting from crisis management to opportunity management.
c) new guidelines, recommendations, and prescriptions, for robust and optimal decisions.
Initiatives are under way in Cyprus maritime ecosystem. One of this initiative is from EXCELSIOR (Excellence Research Centre for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment) based in Limassol, to feed data into a Digital twin for Cyprus maritime ecosystem, data coming from various earth observation sources and in-situ sensors.
Prof. Diofantos Hadjimitsis, Managing Director of Excelsior said:“The installation of a ground receiving station for satellite data in near real time it is expected to significantly help the systematic monitoring of maritime activities, surveillance, and security of the coastal and maritime zone, monitoring of marine pollution, detection of oil spills, which is an essential key component for a regional digital twin “
In addition, Cyprus University of Technology and Excelsior under the coordination of Deputy Ministry of Shipping has already contributed to the development of the maritime spatial planning of Cyprus and Greece with cross-border cooperation. Marine Spatial Planning is a key tool of the European Union’s Integrated Marine Policy that improves decision-making for the management of human activities in the marine environment.
It is based on an integrated management of the ecosystem and aims to deal with competing uses and activities in the sea by drawing up Marine Spatial Plans (European Directive 2014/89/EU). The digital twin can provide support to the development Marine Spatial Plans, as well as to the monitoring of all maritime and coastal activities in Cyprus and Greece.
Although the use of digital twins in maritime operations is still in its infancy, the potential benefits are obvious.
We may expect to see greater widespread use in the sector as technology evolves. This will allow maritime stakeholders (Shipping companies, ports, government, and others) to optimize their operations, lower costs, and increase safety, resulting in a more efficient and sustainable maritime business.
COSMOS NAUTICAL TRAINING CENTRE / MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME ACADEMY
ATTRACTING YOUNG PEOPLE TO FOLLOW A CAREER AT SEA – MARITIME TRAINING AND REFRESHER/CONTINUOUS TRAINING IN CYPRUS AND GREECE.
By Capt. George A. Vlachos | Training Consultant
It is a great pleasure to be honorary invited by the Maritime Economies to participate in this special edition on this very interesting event and we thank the organizers.
The field I will refer to, is the attraction of young people in the maritime profession, maritime education and training.
Education is paramount for success, in any activity, especially in shipping due to the special requirements and obligations of all involved in this demanding and competitive industry.
COSMOS NAUTICAL TRAINING CENTER, investing in the human factor and element, in combination with state-of-the-art simulators and necessary technology and equipment, is a pioneer in the seafarer training, as well as the training of those working in the maritime industry, offices and various companies which are directly or indirectly involved with this trade.
Cyprus is among the top shipping and maritime training countries and we feel that we are a part of this achievement.
All these years we have earned the trust of the seafarers and the shipping companies that participate in the industry, with the culmination of the last seven years, when we established a cooperation with the MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME ACADEMY AND TRAINING CENTER in Larnaca, where a large number of students attend the necessary training to become Merchant Marine Officers.
COSMOS NAUTICAL TRAINING CENTER provides all forms of training, in accordance with STCW requirements but also International and local industry requirements, including training on the ISM Code, Vetting inspections, Port state control, Ship to ship operations as well as upgrading of Certificates of Competence up to the rank of Master and Chief Engineer.
The training is delivered in our facilities in Larnaca, Piraeus, Chios, Kalymnos, Heraklion, Patras, as well as onboard the ships. At the same time, training is provided in real conditions of survival and rescue, firefighting and fast rescue boats depending on the specific requirements.
State-of-the-art equipment is available in bridge simulators, electronic charts, cargo handling simulators, telecommunications, engine simulators, with well-trained instructors, who as a rule of thumb have maritime experience and meet the needs and requirements of trainees who come from Greece, as well as other countries.
Our training centre is certified and accredited by LRQA, the Lloyd’s Register, the Nautical Institute, as well as the Maritime Authorities of Cyprus and Malta.
It is well known that approximately 90% of the global trade is transported by sea.
The ships need the seafarers who navigate them but also those who attend them, assist and support them from ashore, so that all together contribute in their safe and successful operation.
Our country has a long tradition and history in shipping and this must continue.
Young people should follow the maritime profession and of course the ship owners should support them, especially in their initial steps.
The sea is a life provider for the country and the seafarers. The maritime profession widens seafarers’ horizons enriching their knowledge, plus the fact that valuable foreign currency is imported in the country.
People who work in the maritime profession have a good and dignified life, both themselves and their families.
At the same time, they participate in high-quality training because nowadays the ships need proper and adequately trained personnel as well as office staff in order to be safely operated. In the recent years we have had requests for the establishment of an Academy to meet the ever-increasing needs of the industry for the training of capable officers and many young people who wish to follow a career at sea but did not join the Greek academies for any reason.
Our loyalty both for the maritime profession and for these people, led us to the establishment and cooperation with the MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME ACADEMY in Limassol and Larnaca, Cyprus.
The Academy is staffed with experienced instructors of various specialties and fully equipped with simulators that cover all needs and requirements of the STCW Convention.
By today, a large number of our students have received their first Certificate of Competence, either Second officer’s or Third engineer’s, after completing two years of studies in the Academy and one year of onboard training.
These graduates after relevant training and sea service may follow their studies in COSMOS NAUTICAL TRAINING CENTER in Greece or MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME TRAINING CENTRE in Cyprus, to upgrade their Certificates of Competence to the higher rank, up to the ultimate of Master and Chief Engineer. Some of them have already completed the upgrading training for obtaining the chief officer’s and second engineer’s Certificate of Competence respectively.
We, at COSMOS NAUTICAL TRAINING CENTER and MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME ACADEMY, offer high quality knowledge and training, always with respect for our seafarers, vessels, shipping community and industry and our long maritime tradition.
