The Department of Maritime Transport & Commerce (DMTC) at Frederick University offers programs that aim to develop the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for a successful career in the trade and maritime sectors. Introduced in 1997, the DMTC has been a trailblazer in higher maritime education in Cyprus, significantly contributing to the development of human capital and enhancing the island's appeal for foreign investment in maritime services. Today, the DMTC proudly boasts a 96% employment rate among its graduates, who represent the next generation of maritime professionals in Cyprus.

 

Embracing contemporary challenges such as the blue economy, water and coastal pollution, and net-zero targets, we have partnered strategically with the Municipality of Limassol on several sustainable development projects for the coastal environment and beyond. These include co-organizing the Blue Limassol Forum, a platform uniting industry stakeholders and citizens for sustainable growth, conducting research projects such as environmental risk assessments for all blue economy sectors along the Limassol coastline, monitoring high-risk marine areas, creating an intelligent digital platform for data integration and threat prediction, collaborating on cross-border pollution response and mitigation. 

The BL Forum has been particularly productive over the past five years, expanding significantly in scope and political influence. Following a direct suggestion from the Forum, the Deputy Ministry of Shipping has established a special committee to monitor and prevent coastal pollution. This committee uniquely includes representatives from all oversight bodies while our University’s DMTC serves as its academic advisor. Additionally, Frederick University and the DMTC have been appointed to lead the “Coastal and Sea” thematic area in Limassol’s EU Mission Cities Action Plan, with the goal of achieving climate-neutral and smart city status by 2030.

Moving forward, we recognize the importance of the Cyprus Nautical Tourism sector and offer the first-ever curriculum for 'Environmental Officer in Nautical Tourism, educating officers to promote sustainable nautical tourism. At the Limassol Boat Show’s Yachting Conference in May, we discussed the success of the Limassol Marina and DP World in attracting luxury yachting and passenger cruise ships respectively. With more marinas under development, there is an opportunity to exploit the infrastructure, build an environmentally responsible culture of the sea and enhance our nautical tourism product. A central idea towards further development is the complimentarity of different services offered across different marinas in Cyprus. Further, attracting small yacht ownership could be beneficial for triggering economic development and employment in the local communities while cultivating environmental consciousness and maritime culture. Passengers on cruise vessels contribute to income from foreign exchange and volume of business, therefore logistics and transport from the terminal to inland destinations should be enabled though a review and development of current infrastructure.

We aim to holistically and comprehensively research the prospects for nautical tourism by further strengthening our collaboration with the Cyprus Marina Association and other relevant stakeholders, and through our recent partnership with DP World, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). By leveraging our leadership role in the Limassol EU Mission Cities Action Plan, we are confident in our ability to act as a catalyst for securing additional funding to create a green and smart environment in the port and marina infrastructure.  We shall use the valuable knowledge and experience gained from lessons learned in other industries, such as construction, which, although experiencing radical development over the last two decades has, to a large extent ignored the long-term consequences and particularly the impact on factors such as the environment and the traffic congestion. 

Sustainable development is at the core of our activities, research, and academic goals. Our objective is to contribute to and promote the development of a long-term strategic plan for the sustainable development of the city and its coasts, benefiting both businesses and society, ultimately improving the wellbeing of citizens and maintaining our Limassol cultural identity.