The Cyprus Marine Environment Protection Association has been formed with the initiative of the International Shipping Community of Cyprus with the support of the Commercial Community of the island. CYMEPA is an autonomous, not-for-profit organization funded solely by its members. CYMEPA was officially registered on the 27^th August 1992 as a not-for-profit organization limited by guarantee.

A Caretaker Board of Directors has guided CYMEPA to its Official Launching Ceremony and First Annual General Meeting that took place on Sunday, 3^rd October 1993. On that day the Voluntary Declaration “TO SAVE THE SEAS” was signed by the members and was endorsed by the following: International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Club of Rome, The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the International Group of P & I Clubs and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).

First board of directors

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, George Tsavliris, Adonis Papadopoulos, Joachim Meyer, Costakis Loizou, George Dalacouras, Hermann Messner, Menis Karageorgis, Michael Joliffe, Phanos Epiphaniou, Minos Kyriakou, Kikis Lazarides, Herman Eden, Antonis Couloucoundis and Kikis Constantinou.

Current board of directors

George Tsavliris, Stelios Haji-ioannou, Eugen Adami    Themis Papadopoulos,  Kikis Mouskas, George Petrou, Clelia Haji-ioannou,   Andreas Hadjipetrou,  Michael Michael, Dieter Rohdenburg, Nikolaos Kretsis, Andreas Papadopoulos, Martina Meinders, Yuri Simagin, Sunil Kapoor, Nita Jha,  Elli Ioannidou

To mark this occasion CYMEPA created a commemorative video and Cyprus Shipping News would like to congratulate the team at CYMEPA and especially Michael Ierides as well as the board of directors for their excellent work and for their commitment to keep the Cyprus seas clean.