CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyriacos Scordis and Sofi Mylona, SCORDIS PAPAPETROU & Co LLC
Impossibility of performance Performance must become impossible due to unforeseen events. For example, if a char - tered vessel cannot arrive at the port due to a government-imposed blockade or an accident that leaves the vessel permanently incapable of performing, this could be considered frustration. Radical change in circumstances This occurs if the event leads to a change so significant that it alters the fundamental nature of the contract. For example, if a vessel is delayed for an unreasonably long time, making it impos - sible for the parties to fulfil their agreement within the intended timeframe, frustration may be argued. No fault of the parties This occurs when the event makes performance fundamentally different or impossible, without fault by the parties involved. 8.2 Enforcement of the IMO 2020 Rule Relating to Limitation on the Sulphur Content of Fuel Oil The enforcement of the IMO 2020 is delegated to national governments via Annex VI of the MARPOL agreement of 1973, as amended by Protocol 1978 (MARPOL 73/78). Cyprus has already ratified MARPOL 73/78 and all related legislation. Since 1 January 2020, ships sailing in waters under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Cyprus must use fuels of which the maximum sulphur content does not exceed 0.5% by mass. Direc - tive (EU) 2016/802 sets stricter limits for the maximum sulphur content of marine fuels with - in the port areas of the EU, according to which the maximum sulphur content of marine fuels entering such ports should not exceed 0.10% by mass.
The authorities responsible for the enforcement of sulphur-content limitations are the SDM and the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry. The relevant inspections are carried out accord - ing to the Paris MoU on Port State Control and the Merchant Shipping (Port State Control) Law of 2011 (Law 95 (I)/2011) as amended, which is the harmonisation Law with Directive 2009/16/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Coun - cil of 23 April 2009 on port state control, as amended. No known proceedings/sanctions have taken place in Cyprus owing to a violation of the sul - phur limitation, except for administrative fines imposed by the relevant authorities. 8.3 Trade Sanctions As a member state of the United Nations and the EU, Cyprus is obliged to enforce and imple - ment restrictive measures (the EU refers to sanc - tions as “restrictive measures”) adopted by the Council of the EU within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, as well as international sanctions adopted by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Cyprus implements all the resolutions and deci - sions of the UNSC on sanctions, as well as the regulations and decisions of the Council of the EU on restrictive measures, through its domes - tic Law of 2016 (58(I)/2016), which provides for the Implementation of the Provisions of the Resolutions or Decisions of the United Nations Security Council (“Sanctions”) and the Decisions and Regulations of the Council of the European Union (“Restrictive Measures”). Important sections of Law 58(I)/2016 (among others) are as follows:
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