Gold Magazine March - April 2013, Issue 24 | Seite 29

INTERORIENT

I

environment for shipping companies and, due
to the ongoing Turkish embargo, it needs in
some way to be offering a little bit more than
the others.

of skilled staff and strong support from the
business community. Today, as the biggest
Cyprus-owned shipping company on the island,
we maintain our commitment to Cyprus and,
despite our international presence and several
branch offices around the world, we maintain
our headquarters in Limassol.

nterorient was established in 1979
and it has grown over the years into a
diversified shipping company, involved
in shipowning, ship management and
shipping investments. Today the Group
employs 300 shore-based employees and over
3,000 seafarers, and manages a fleet of 130
vessels through its offices in Germany, the USA,
the Philippines, Latvia, Ukraine and Russia. The
group’s vessels transport a wide range of bulk
cargoes including petroleum products, minerals
and commodities. Interorient is a founder member of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber.

2. Many changes have taken place over the
past thirty years which have seen multiple
jurisdictions offering shipping companies similar
benefits in order to attract them. The benefits of
the Tonnage Tax system that we have in Cyprus
today, for example, are also found in most if not
all other EU countries. Further afield, Singapore,
Dubai and Hong Kong have all become big hubs
for ship management activities. It is not really a
question of ranking between the different shipping centres. What is important is for Cyprus
to continue to try and offer the most attractive

1. Interorient has been active in Cyprus since
1979, at the time when Cyprus was beginning
to establish itself as a shipping centre. The
attractions for a shipping company operating
from Cyprus at that time are well-known and
include the good taxation regime, a high level

3. We are very well covered on the conventional shipping side with the current Tonnage
Tax law and infrastructure as it offers incentives
to owners, managers and charterers/operators.
What would greatly strengthen the presence
of shipping companies here in Cyprus would
be a solution to the ongoing Turkish embargo.
However, with the island’s recent developments
in the field of natural gas, there is an opportunity
to create a parallel and complimentary hub of
offshore and exploration activity. Many existing
shipping companies and providers of ancilliary
services also serve the offshore industry and I
believe that Cyprus will achieve this goal within
the next few years.

Themis
Papadopoulos,
CEO,
Interorient

. LTD

MARLOW NAVIGATION CO

M

Andreas
Neophytou,
Joint Managing
Director, Marlow
Navigation Co.
Ltd

H

arlow Navigation
Co. Ltd was established in 1982
by Hermann Eden
who currently
holds the position of Chairman. At
first the company’s activities were
limited to crew management, which
remains its core business. In the
‘90s, these were extended to include
technical management. Marlow
Navigation, and its worldwide representatives supply the full range
of third party ship management

activities and is able to accompany
a vessel from the drawing board all
the way to her final days at sea.

island’s geographical location with
regard to international travel.

1. In the first place, we were

2. We would put Dubai, Hong Kong
and Singapore in this category.

attracted by the competitive tax
regime and the excellent banking,
accounting and legal system in
Cyprus. These are the things that
have kept our company in Cyprus,
together with the availability of
skilled personnel for all the services
provided, the excellent and efficient
communications network and the

3. Steps need to be taken to maintain the competitive tax advantage
of Cyprus. Confidence Building
Measures are needed in respect of
business sustainability and a specialised unit for the promotion and
administration of shipping should
be created.

UNITEAM MARINE LTD

aving commenced as a
team in Cyprus in 1978, the
Uniteam Marine Management
Group is actively involved in
all aspects of ship management and has expanded into a multinational
company with offices in Germany, Ukraine,
Singapore and Myanmar as well as Cyprus.
The group is active in full management,
operations, crew management, technical
management, financial administration, consultancy and ISM/ISO 9001:2000 and ISPS
services. The company manages a fleet of
more than 120 vessels, ranging from 10,000
to 177,000 dwt.

1. Cyprus enjoys a strategic location and
offers an excellent infrastructure in terms of
facilities, professional services and human
capital. Strong support from all administra-

tions towards the maritime industry has also
contributed greatly to successfully tackling
legislative, tax and other industry issues.
The epitome of these efforts was the approval by the European Commission of the
Republic’s unique Tonnage Tax system
which acts as a catalyst for the continuing
presence of shipping compa