Cyprus was doing everything right in the quest to boost its shipping sector.
Exactly five years ago, the island’s government set up a dedicated shipping ministry to speed up maritime policy formulation in Europe’s biggest ship-management hub.
Energised by the upgrade, its shipping officials have since introduced green tonnage tax incentives, adopted innovative ways to deal with port-state-control deficiencies, abolished registration and mortgage fees for oceangoing vessels, and taken steps to streamline and digitise the country’s flag administration — one of Europe’s biggest.
