On the basis of the results of the Cyprus Passengers Survey, arrivals of tourists reached 55,342 in March compared to 169,934 in March 2019, recording a decrease of 67,4 percent.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber welcomed with satisfaction the inclusion of the Cyprus Flag to the ‘Qualship 21’ list of the US Coast Guard after being removed from the targeted flaglist of the USCG, further improving its safety performance as to the applicable regulations and quality image.

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works announced that the council of ministers, at a meeting on April 23, decided to extend the ban of flights.

A flight ban had been announced in the relevant decree issued by the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works on April 18, and has been extended from April 30 to May 17.

On April 21, the fourth batch of medical supplies arrived in Cyprus from China.

The Cyprus Hotel Association has supported the State’s effort to tackle the pandemic.

The Rodon Mount Hotel and Resort staff are certainly working in strange conditions and away from their families, to serve their fellow citizens who are in 14 days quarantine.

A great thank you goes out to them.

The Shipping Deputy Ministry expressed great appreciation to the Cyprus Union of Shipowners (CUS), for its support to the Cyprus Government as well as to Cyprus and its people in the fight against coronavirus, by covering the cost of 10 ICU ventilators.

To ensure the continued functioning of the global maritime transportation system, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), issued a new message to G20 leaders.

The message calls for co-operation between UN agencies, governments and airlines to find viable solutions to the important issues of facilitating crew changes soon and on a more urgent basis to allow access to emergency medical treatment ashore and urgent repatriation to seafarers, where necessary.

The message stated that: “While it is right for governments to focus on the immediate public health emergency presented by COVID-19, we must not forget that – amongst other economically important activities – that merchant ships move the world’s medical supplies, food, energy and raw materials, plus the manufactured products and components which, due to complex global supply chains, are necessary for national economies to function effectively and for the preservation of jobs. Global trade is dependent on the world’s two million seafarers and marine personnel who operate the world’s merchant ships. Given the expected continuation of travel and flight restrictions, there is a critical need for Governments to address the serious problem of facilitating ships’ crew changes. Without co-ordinated global action, the efficient flow of imports and exports carried by sea will be jeopardised, with negative impacts on the resilience of national economies throughout the COVID-19 crisis."

In this respect, the following comprehensive recommendations to G20 leaders and governments are made:

1. Designate professional seafarers and marine personnel, regardless of nationality, as ‘key workers’ providing an essential service and grant them appropriate exemptions from national travel or movement restrictions, to enable them to join and leave ships.
2. All governments to identify ports in their countries, and appropriate airports nearby, from where crew changes can safely be resumed as soon as possible.
3. Governments, in the event of medical emergencies, to provide visiting seafarers with access to emergency medical treatment ashore and, if necessary, to facilitate emergency repatriation as required by the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
4. Establish a special G20 taskforce on the issue of ships’ crew changes as an effective response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Cyprus Shipping Chamber, fully supports the abovementioned recommendations and stands ready to continue the ongoing discussions with the Shipping Deputy Ministry, the Cyprus Government and local stakeholders, in order to identify, the soonest possible, viable solutions on crew changes issues and to safeguard access to healthcare on shore, to the unseen heroes of global trade, our seafarers.

The Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works announced that Museums, Archaeological Sites and Ancient Monuments will continue to remain closed to the public until the April 30, as part of the protective measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 and in accordance with the relevant decisions approved by the council of ministers.

The Department of Antiquities apologises to the public for any inconvenience caused.

Petrolina participates in the crucial fight of Cyprus against corona virus, as well as in the government efforts to repatriate Cypriots, by supplying free aviation fuel for the flights.