Korea-Cyprus Shipping Agreement

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced that the Korea-Cyprus Shipping Agreement came into effect starting from July 10 and Korean shipping companies will have more opportunities to make inroads into the Mediterranean and EU shipping markets.

The Korea-Cyprus Shipping Agreement was officially signed by the two nations’ representatives on December 2, 2008, following a sea talk held in 2003 after the agreement was first proposed by Korea in October 2002 and Cyprus accepted the proposal.

Under the agreement, Korean and Cyprian ships will be equally treated with locals in each nation, procedures for loading and transporting freight will be streamlined and certificate for ships and mariners’ ID cards will be mutually accepted.

The trade volume between the two nations from 2006 to 2008 reached 36.3 billion dollars and sea cargo volume was 221,000 tonnes. The continuously growing two-way trade made the shipping agreement a necessity for the two countries in order to sustain the trade relationship. The Ministry said that thanks to the agreement, Korean shipping companies will have Cyprus as a strong base to expand their business into the Mediterranean and EU shipping markets.

By reference, Cyprus is the 10th largest fleet in the world and has maintained a friendly and cooperative relationship with Korea. It also voted for Korea as a hosting nation of the 2012 Yeosu Expo. <Korea Shipping Gazette>