The Cyprus Shipping Chamber welcomes the commencement of operations of the One-Stop-Shipping-Center  at the Shipping Deputy Ministry, as from 20 November 2023. This initiative represents a significant step forward in the Government’s commitment to upgrade Cyprus’ status as a robust Shipping center.

The establishment of the OSSC was a long-standing request of the Shipping Chamber and it is envisaged that the OSSC will essentially evolve into a fully-fledged “Fast-Track” service with direct and fast access/priority to all relevant State Authorities/Ministries. The intention is for the OSSC to be staffed by Officers of the Shipping Deputy Ministry and Officers from other relevant government departments (in secondment), who have or should be trained to acquire the knowledge of the special requirements of the Shipping Industry, as well as, to act promptly and effectively, independently of other Government Departments, to process fast the services it will undertake.

At the same time, it is important for the Shipping Ministry’s services offered to shipping companies to be fully digitalised/automated to provide a more flexible, prompt, efficient and integrated customer-oriented service on a 24-hour basis, making Cyprus Shipping substantially even more competitive, and will fulfil this constant request of the Shipping Industry. This will create a purely digital environment, shaping the “One-Stop-Service” support framework.

This important upgrade is indeed a step in the right direction, which the Shipping Chamber fully supports and will continue to work towards enhancing the spectrum of services that will be offered by the OSSC.