Cyprus as a maritime hub
Since the early 1960s when Cyprus opened its shipping registry and introduced an advantageous shipping tax regime, the island's maritime industry has come a long way and has been established as one of the three largest merchant fleets in Europe and one of the largest in the world, renowned for its high quality services and standards of safety.
Today, it stands as one of the strongest and most significant pillars of the Cyprus economy with Limassol being the heart of the shipping activities taking place in the island. It offers a significant number of fiscal advantages, such as the efficient and safe ship registration allowing for both a sovereign flag and a resident shipping industry, the favourable tax regime and competitive tonnage tax scheme, as well as the availability of highly skilled professionals in the legal and accounting sector, a legal system based on the English model and competent local workforce.
The annual survey conducted by the Central Bank of Cyprus for the year 2017, which was published in April 2018, documents an increase of ship management revenues to €476 million during the second half of 2017 and lists Germany, Russia and Singapore as the main export destinations for the ship management services. Meanwhile, there has been a decline in the administrative, engineering and other expenses abroad which could be attributed to the ever-growing local market.
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