Cyprus Shipping & Maritime

Merchant shipping has developed rapidly over the last decades in Cyprus ranking the country amongst the main maritime powers of the world with the 11th largest fleet globally and the 3rd largest fleet in Europe. The Cyprus flag is a top-quality sovereign flag which duly adheres to all safety and security standards deriving from the Paris and Tokyo MoUs and is in the “White List” of both MoUs.

Cyprus is a modern, efficient and integrated shipping cluster ranked amongst the leading in the world. As a third-party ship management centre, it is the largest in Europe and amongst the top 3 worldwide. More than 20% of the world’s third-party management fleet is managed by companies based in Cyprus.

The shipping industry is fast paced and it is the policy of our Firm to be just as fast in our communication with our clients while ensuring competitive rates and trustworthy services. It is of great importance that the Shipping Department of our Firm has registered so far under Cyprus flag and further under the Cyprus Tonnage Tax System ocean-going vessels of total gross tonnage exceeding 250,000 and as such is well equipped to assist ship owners, managers, shipping chartered companies and any other related shipping institutions domestically and internationally, providing high quality services, advice and representation.

Our Shipping & Maritime Legal Services

Our highly-qualified and experienced specialist team can assist with all legal aspects of shipping and maritime law including:

• Registration (provisional, permanent, bareboat – parallel registration) of any kind of vessels in the Register of Cyprus Ships
• Registration of any kind of boats in the Small Vessels’ Registry of the Shipping Deputy Ministry of Cyprus
• Registration of ships and companies under the Cyprus Tonnage Tax System
• Registration of yachts under Cyprus flag
• Registration of yachts and boats in foreign jurisdictions (e.g. Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Malta etc.)
• Deletion of vessels and yachts from foreign jurisdictions
• Incorporation of shipping companies and all other matters related to matters of company law and tax law relevant to the ownership of Cyprus ships
• Structuring and tax planning of ship owning groups
• Services of authorized representative in Cyprus
• Drafting and registration of ship mortgages and other security documents for the financing of ship acquisition and the registration of same.
• Assistance to owners of Cyprus-flagged vessels to obtain license from the Shipping Deputy Ministry to hire a private security company in accordance with the Protection of Cyprus Ships Against Acts of Piracy and Other Unlawful Acts Law of 2012
• Assistance for the certification and registration of coastal passenger and small passenger vessels under Cyprus flag, as per the Coastal and Other Passenger Vessels Regulations of 2012 (P.I. 278/2012)
• Ship’s sale and purchase agreements
• Drafting and negotiating shipping related agreements
• Charter party (voyage, time and bareboat charterparties) contracts
• Seafarers (master and crew) contracts
• Issuance of seamen books for seafarers onboard Cyprus-flagged vessels
• Endorsement of seafarer’s certificates of competency
• Purchase and endorsement of all kind of log books and ship’s articles for Cyprus-flagged vessels
•  Handling of technical enquiries, and exemptions of ships with flag administrations
• Any requests related to maritime security and safety matters concerning Cyprus-flagged vessels
• All kind of registry transactions under Cyprus flag (deletion, transfer of ownership of vessels, renewal of certificates, change of particulars and ships’ name, discharge of mortgages, payment of tonnage tax etc.)
• Any request related to the procedures before the Cyprus Customs and Excise Department (e.g. issuance of T2L certificate, temporary importation of pleasure yachts, issuance of customs clearance certificates etc.)