I welcome today's announcement of Royal Caribbean Group informing about the establishment of the Group's office in Cyprus and the registration of a cruise ship in the Cyprus Register of Shipping, and more specifically the ship Spectrum of the Seas which has been flying the Cypriot flag since last Friday.
The company's decision is a concrete example of how the Government is turning crisis into opportunity. As we know, during the pandemic, Cyprus, through the coordinated efforts of the Deputy Ministry of Shipping in cooperation with the Ministries of Transport and Health and the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, had facilitated the repatriation and crew changes of over 65000 seafarers, while the National Programme we adopted for the vaccination coverage of 40,000 seafarers was successfully implemented. The above, together with the service we provided, put Cyprus on the world cruise map.
The company's decision to establish a permanent headquarters in Cyprus, which will be the centre of its shipping activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as the trust that the company has shown in the Cyprus Flag, create conditions for further strengthening the cooperation, which will bring significant benefits both for Cyprus Shipping and more broadly for the consolidation of Cyprus as a centre of quality cruising, which further enhances our tourism product, contributing substantially to the local economy.
The improvement of our maritime product and the enhancement of our incentives and service, as designed and implemented through the national strategy "SEA Change 2030", have laid a solid foundation for a promising future for Cyprus Shipping.
(MB/SX)
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