CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyriacos Scordis and Sofi Mylona, SCORDIS PAPAPETROU & Co LLC
• arising out of an act that is or is claimed to be a general average act; • arising out of bottomry; and • for the forfeiture or condemnation of a ship or goods that are being or have been carried or that have been attempted to be carried in a ship, or for the restoration of a ship or any such goods after seizure or for droits of Admiralty. The jurisdiction may be invoked by the following. • An action in rem against the vessel or property in question, if it is lying within the territorial jurisdic - tion of the court. This territorial jurisdiction extends to the territorial waters, but in practice the arrest of a vessel or the service upon her of a writ in rem is not possible unless the vessel calls at a Cyprus port. • An action in personam, if: (a) the defendant has their residence or a place of business within Cyprus; (b) the cause of action arose in Cyprus; or (c) an action arising out of the same incident or series of incidents is pending or has been determined in the court. 1.2 Port State Control In Cyprus, the system and powers of port state control are regulated by: • the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Law of 2011 to 2020 (Law 95 (I)/2011) as amended for the purpose of harmonising the Law with EU Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on port state control, as amended; • the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Notifi - cation 2015; • the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control-Duration of Night) Order of 2011; • the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control-Geo - graphical Areas of Ports and Anchorages) Order of 2017; • the Merchant Shipping (Community Vessel Traffic Monitoring and Information System) Law of 2004 (Law No 131 (I)/2004) as amended; and • the Relevant Circulars of the Shipping Deputy Min - istry of Cyprus, issued from time to time.
Cyprus is also a signatory to the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control 1982 and the Mediterranean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control 1997. The Shipping Deputy Ministry to the President of Cyprus (SDM) is the competent port state control authority in Cyprus. It conducts all inspections of for - eign ships in Cyprus ports, verifying that crew, ship and any equipment comply with the requirements of international conventions on: • safety; • pollution prevention; • operation; • management and security; • qualifications; • living conditions; and • terms of employment. Port state control officers and officials have the authority to: • board vessels and inspect them if necessary; • investigate and copy materials; and • interject and/or detain ships found to have insuf - ficiencies following inspection or found to have any hazardous materials that may create safety, health or environmental issues. Moreover, authorities in certain cases may not allow ships entry into Cyprus ports if the ship Masters and operators do not abide by the law and do not provide information as requested by the competent authori - ties; they may also impose administrative fines. The Marine Accidents Investigation Committee (MAIC) and the SDM are the authorities responsible for the investigation of marine accidents (casualties and inci - dents) in the Republic of Cyprus. In the event of an accident involving a ship flying the Cyprus flag worldwide or a ship flying a foreign flag within Cyprus territorial and internal waters, the Master, owner, manager or agent of such ship must notify the MAIC, by virtue of the Marine Accidents and Incidents Investigation Law of 2012 (Law No 94 (I)/2012, which transposed EU Directive 2009/18/EC
186 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook