Speaking to the plenary of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on 25-26 November, Cyprus Shipping Deputy Minister Marina Hadjimanolis set out Nicosia’s mobility-centric maritime agenda. She underlined Cyprus’s support for a global digital seafarer-ID and renewed push to modernise the STCW Convention so that crews can obtain qualifications, medicals and flag endorsements online—changes that would slash onboarding times for the 55,000 mariners sailing under the Cypriot flag.
Hadjimanolis told delegates that Cyprus will invest in port-state-control cooperation to weed out “dark-fleet” vessels and expedite visa waivers for bona-fide crew changes at Limassol and Larnaca. The ministry is already trial-ling an e-gate system that lets crew scan biometric passports and receive an instant shore-pass tied to their ship’s arrival manifest, cutting processing times from 40 minutes to under five.
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For relocation professionals, the speech signals that Cyprus intends to keep maritime mobility at the heart of its competitiveness strategy ahead of its EU Council Presidency. Faster crew rotation and clearer digital documentation lower costs for ship-managers headquartered on the island and support ancillary sectors such as marine insurance, training and hospitality.
The minister also urged faster progress on a global carbon-levy framework, warning that fragmented regional schemes create “regulatory ping-pong” that complicates voyage planning and crewing rosters. She promised Cyprus would host an IMO working group in early 2026 to hammer out mutual recognition of electronic travel credentials for seafarers, hinting at pilot projects with Greece and Egypt.
Hadjimanolis told delegates that Cyprus will invest in port-state-control cooperation to weed out “dark-fleet” vessels and expedite visa waivers for bona-fide crew changes at Limassol and Larnaca. The ministry is already trial-ling an e-gate system that lets crew scan biometric passports and receive an instant shore-pass tied to their ship’s arrival manifest, cutting processing times from 40 minutes to under five.
For relocation professionals, the speech signals that Cyprus intends to keep maritime mobility at the heart of its competitiveness strategy ahead of its EU Council Presidency. Faster crew rotation and clearer digital documentation lower costs for ship-managers headquartered on the island and support ancillary sectors such as marine insurance, training and hospitality.
The minister also urged faster progress on a global carbon-levy framework, warning that fragmented regional schemes create “regulatory ping-pong” that complicates voyage planning and crewing rosters. She promised Cyprus would host an IMO working group in early 2026 to hammer out mutual recognition of electronic travel credentials for seafarers, hinting at pilot projects with Greece and Egypt.
