Cypriot flag now 8th most trustworthy in world of shipping

Cypriot-flagged ships are the eighth-most trustworthy in the world, according to the secretariat of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The MoU measures the performance of ships bearing the flags of nation states and other “recognised organisations. The ranking is based on the number of times vessels bearing certain flags are inspected or held at ports, as well as evaluations of the safety and quality of the vessels themselves.

The latest meeting of the secretariat, its 56th in total, saw Cyprus rise from 13th place to eighth, retaining its position on the white list of the world’s most trustworthy flags.

According to the MoU, the white list “represents quality flags with a consistently low detention record”.

Cyprus has worked for decades to remove itself from the Paris MoU’s black list when its flag was targeted for a huge number of port inspections and detentions every year, eventually reaching the grey list and then the white list.

Today, the Cyprus Registry is classified as the 11th largest merchant fleet globally and the 3rd largest fleet in the European Union with more than 2,200 ocean-going vessels totalling 21 million gross tons, according to the Cyprus Shipping Chamber.