Cyprus Shipping Association highlights expanding security duties for shipping agents

Tokyo, Japan. Shipping agents are taking on broader security and compliance duties as geopolitical tensions unsettle maritime trade, according to the Cyprus Shipping Association (CSA). Its director general, Dimitris Kouzapas, addressed these challenges at FONASBA’s 2026 annual general meeting.

Security pressures and Cyprus’s role

During a panel on maritime resilience in Europe, Kouzapas discussed how the Ukraine war and Middle East crises were affecting shipping activities, security across regions and worldwide trade. He said Cyprus’s location and shipping experience gave it a significant role in helping maintain stability and security across the Eastern Mediterranean.

Kouzapas called for stronger preparedness, improved exchanges of information and closer cooperation between the maritime industry and authorities to address evolving security threats.

He highlighted CYCLOPS, a centre based in Cyprus that supports security training and capacity development. He also referred to the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), an EU initiative intended to strengthen maritime awareness and cooperation among authorities.

Wider checks and risk management

Kouzapas outlined agents’ expanding obligations, including compliance with sanctions, screening vessels and customers, verifying cargoes and voyages, maintaining cybersecurity awareness, and detecting operational or security risks at an early stage.

He said agents needed to anticipate risks and tailor their approach accordingly. This required a clear understanding of each customer, vessel and transaction, verification of information against other sources, and referral of concerns for additional scrutiny where necessary.

Industry cooperation and common standards

The panel, “European resilience: Local solutions for regional challenges”, brought together Kouzapas, Germany’s Alexander Geisler, France’s Olivier Cebe and Bulgaria’s Stefan Stanoykov. Poland’s Jacek Tyminski moderated the discussion.

Kouzapas stressed that national associations representing shipping agents, the Federation of National Associations of Ship Brokers and Agents (FONASBA), and its European arm, ECASBA, had important roles in exchanging practical knowledge, establishing shared standards and improving engagement with regulators.

The CSA said the discussion underlined the need for coordinated efforts nationally, across Europe and internationally to strengthen the maritime sector’s capacity to cope with disruption.