Cyprus’ President, Nikos Christodoulides, who on Tuesday visited the Odyssey of the Seas cruise ship at the port of Limassol, said he was expecting positive developments regarding further cooperation with cruise giant Royal Caribbean.

The 347-meter cruise ship sailed in the morning at the port of Limassol and was to begin its journey in the afternoon to its base, Civitavecchia, Italy, while due to the situation in Israel, it has removed the port of Haifa from its itinerary.

Accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Shipping, Marina Hadjimanolis, President Christodoulides was given a tour of the cruise ship, while in his statements, said that the presence of such a large and well-known company in Cyprus was “a vote of confidence for the Cypriot economy, Cypriot shipping, for Cypriot ports”.

He clarified that he accepted the invitation to visit the Odyssey of the Seas because “there are many other areas where we can cooperate with the company”, noting that a dialogue has started and expressed his conviction that soon there would be other positive news as regards cooperation.

Stressing the importance of tourism for Cyprus, President Christodoulides said that, beyond this part of the cooperation, “there is the issue of our flag, there are many other issues for which I believe we will have positive developments in the near future”.

Responding to a comment by a journalist that the Royal Caribbean has already registered the Odyssey's twin cruise ship, the Spectrum of the Seas, in the Cypriot registry, while it recently opened its Europe office in Limassol, President Christodoulides noted, hence his presence on the ship, adding that other ships of the same company may come under the Cypriot flag and that this was another area for cooperation.