Gold Magazine March - April 2013, Issue 24 | Page 27

WHAT THE

COMPANIES AY
S
Q&A
WE PUT THE FOLLOWING THREE
QUESTIONS TO FIVE MEMBERS
OF THE CFC BOARD.

1.

Cyprus is an established European and
global shipping centre in which your
company has shown confidence for
many years now. What attracted your
company in Cyprus in the first place
and what is it that continues to keep
you here?

2.
3.

Are other shipping centres gaining
ground on Cyprus because of the
advantages and privileges they can
offer companies such as yours?
What specific measures could, in
your view, be implemented in order to
improve the island’s present status as
a shipping centre?

Capt. Dirk Fry,
Managing
Director, Columbia
Shipmanagement
Ltd.

F

COLUMBIA
D
SHIPMANAGEMENT LT

ounded in Limassol
in 1978, Columbia
Shipmanagement
Ltd. is one of the
world’s largest
independent ship managers with
three hundred staff in Cyprus and
more than 13,000 employees
worldwide. Through its Cyprusbased head office, Columbia
provides full management and
crewing services to more than
420 vessels of all types around
the world. It also provides shipowners with a comprehensive
range of services including ship
operations, chartering, new
building supervision, sales and
purchase and other associated
consultancy services.

1. In the late ‘70s, when Columbia was established in Cyprus,
the island offered everything that
a business was looking for, i.e. a
fast-growing economy, a favourable tax regime, well-educated
people and an accounting and
legal framework understood
by all. These, combined with
the excellent climate that every
Northern European dreamed of, a
good private school system, advanced telecommunications and
the ability to work with the Far
East in the morning and the US
in the afternoon, meant that few
other places could compare.
Since then a lot has changed. We
have seen improvements to the
infrastructure of the island itself,
new legislation has been enacted
(albeit with some delays in certain instances) and an increasing

main_story1_shipping.indd 27

number of other shipping and
shipping-related companies have
been established, thus creating a
healthy cluster with a voice both
nationally and, most importantly,
internationally in the various
shipping fora. European Union
membership in 2004 brought
the biggest change to the island,
followed up by the adoption of
the euro in 2008.
Over the years, Cyprus may have
lost some of its comparative
advantages over other countries,
mainly because they have copied
the Cypriot model but without the
bureaucracy which has been one
of the major obstacles to further
growth. However, it remains
attractive not only because of the
quality of life that it offers which
others cannot match but also
thanks to the hard work put in
by a lot of people in the industry
to keep one step ahead of those
others. The Turkish embargo on
Cyprus ships and companies
operating out of Cyprus has not
been an obstacle as such but it
has affected the further development of the shipping community.

2. It is not a matter of privileges.
Cyprus retains a lot of them.
What Cyprus has not managed to
become is an all-round shipping
centre. Despite the favourable
legal framework especially
after the enactment of the new
Tonnage Tax legislation, it has
not managed to attract owners,
charterers and other shippingrelated businesses from other
main shipping centres. Shipping

is very traditional and shipping
companies will not move from
one centre to another simply
because of cost considerations.
They prefer to maintain their
presence in more traditional
maritime centres such as London, New York or Piraeus where
the cluster consists not only of
shipowners but of banks, insurance companies and law firms
among others.

3. The following:
• A well-structured strategy,
unaffected by the political climate and political parties, which
focuses on marketing Cyprus’
advantages.
• The announcement of the appointment of an Under-Secretary
to the President for Shipping is a
step to the right direction.
• A strong Department of Merchant Shipping (currently without
a permanent Director) is essential as this is the department
responsible for implementing
shipping policies for Cyprusflagged ships.
• A solution to the financial crisis
which, at the moment, is a deterrent to anyone thinking of investing in Cyprus and/or moving their
businesses in whole or in part to
the island.
• The abolition of bureaucratic
governmental procedures, spread
across a number of ministries
and departments, and the creation of one-stop-shop where
businesses and business people
can discuss and resolve issues
troubling them.

07/03/2013 12:25