Volentarily Working for Cleaner Seas
Cymepa offers the local shipping
community a chance to contribute to quality of life in Cyprus, but it still aims to reach
more seafarers
Last October saw the official inauguration in Limassol of the Cyprus Marine Environment
Protection Association (Cymepa), at which the new body took an oath to commit itself to
“eliminate ship-generated marine pollution... and marine pollution generally”.
In fact the association had already been in existence for a little over a year before that, garnering members from among the local shipping community and Cypriot flag users worldwide.
Unashamedly modelled on the Greek-based Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (Helmepa), it fully supports the International Maritime Organisation’s “Safer Shipping and Cleaner Oceans” drive.
Like its Greek counterpart, Cymepa stresses voluntary commitment to complement international conventions which directly or indirectly address the protection of the marine environment - including the new International Safety Management Code for the safe operation of ships and for pollution prevention.
The body was endorsed by various environmental and shipping industry groups, such as the Worldwide Fund for Nature, the Club of Rome, the International Chamber of Shipping and Helmepa.
“Cymepa sets out to educate and inform, rather than to regulate and enforce. Enlightened motivation of ourselves and our staff will produce longer-lasting benefits than externally-imposed regulation”, said Terence Coghlin, chairman of the International Group of P&I Clubs, another endorsing body.
Another side to Cymepa’s work is a public awareness campaign and environmental activities in Cyprus itself, which are proving to be a channel to help integrate the industry with the island and for companies to put something back into it.
The association started out as the “baby” of young shipowner Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who was enthused with the work done by Helmepa over the years.
Confirmed as Cymepa’s first president, Mr Haji-Ioannou is keen that the body should not become too identified with any individual and says he will be pushing a motion to limit incumbents in the post to a maximum of two terms.
The decision will be taken at an extraordinary general meeting in September.
There are plenty of other wll-known shipping figures who are involved with the new body, notably senior executives from the local shipmanagement community.
A glance at the 15-man board of directors confirms that this is where the core of Cymepa’s support lies, together with representatives of Greek shipowners who use the Cypriot flag and are more familiar with the “mepa” concept than perhaps other national groups are.
Day-to-day running of the body is carried out by a secretariat based in Cymepa House, a listed building in Limassol which was constructed at the beginning of the century.
A former public school, the premises were donated by Mr Haji-Ioannou’s mother and have been extensively refurbished for the association’s use.
The building now includes offices, a training room and space for environmental exhibitions which are open to the public.
Recently the permanent staff was expanded with a fifth member, a young Cypriot naval architect with experience as a marine superintended who, it is intended, will take charge of training.
He is likely to work closely with Konstantin Voskresensky, a former director of IMO’s marine environment protection committee, who remains with Cymepa as a consultant. Mr Haji-Ioannou said the move reflected “a desire to become more effective on the shipping side”.
In its goal of offering training cycles to large numbers of seafarers working on Cypriot ships, Cymepa has encountered a difficulty which was never much of a problem for its Greek prototype.
Control of the Cyprus flag fleet is widely dispersed and few crew members have occasion to visit the island on a regular basis.
Acknowledging that the board is still puzzling over a solution to this barrier, Mr Haji-Ioannou noted that a first “joint” seminar was held with Helmepa recently, whereby Greek nationals serving on board Cypriot ships were able to attend. “This is one way and we are very grateful to Helmepa for that”, he added.
Under its own auspices, Cymepa has already completed a training cycle centred on requirements of the Marpol 73/78 Convention which was heavily attended by superintendents, masters, officers and shore executives.
The new training syllabus which starts in September is to concentrate on safety management and particularly the International Safety Management Code, a subject which Mr Haji-Ioannou contends is likely to be of central importance in the fight against pollution.
While the feeling lingers that ways must be found to obtain access to crews, the association is clearly pleased by the way its public awareness campaign has taken off in Cyprus.
At the end of last year, the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe appointed Cymepa as national operator for its international Blue Flag campaign.
This aims to open the eyes of the public to the character of the coastal environment by awarding flags to those beaches and marinas which meet certain standards of water quality, environmental information and responsible management.
As the leader of the national jury, Cymepa sees it as “providing a national service, bringing Cyprus in line with European legislation and enhancing awareness, particularly in the tourism industry”, said Mr Haji-Ioannou.
He was aware that Helmepa had operated the Blue Flags scheme in Greece for a number of years but eventually withdrew because of the intrusion of commercial aspects.
“Yes, we are conscious that this can very easily degenerate into a process of quality marking rather than environmental awareness, but we are doing everything we can to avoid that”, he said.
Other environmental organisations are also represented on the committee with a view to making it “as impartial as possible”.
A separate initiative is Cymepa’s annual beach-cleaning exercise, which was recently carried out for the second time. In perhaps the most photogenic of all its activities, shipping executives mingle with thousands of local scouts and other volunteers to clean local beaches, after which a scientific analysis of the collected garbage is produced.
LLOYD’S LIST: Cyprus September 1994.