The Cyprus Government has notified of the Circular No. 8/2004 for exemption from decommissioning of Halon 1301 Fixed Fire Extinguishing System and Halon 1211 Portable Extinguishers on board the ships, as attached.

Managers of ship flying the flag of Cyprus are requested to complete and submit the attached "Summary of Uses of Halon for Critical Uses" not later than 20 March 2004.

The Cyprus Government is obliged to record and report to the European Committee the quantities of halon which will remain on board Cyprus ships after 1 May 2004 and will issue an appropriate Declaration, that they are exempted from the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 2037/2000.

When the Safety Equipment survey is carried out on or after 1 May 2004 and found the ship is using halon for fire fighting and not furnished with the appropriate declaration, the Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate will not be endorsed nor issued.

In order to ensure the continuous uninterrupted operation of the ships, the Owner (or Manager) is requested to respond on this matter immediately.

Circular No. 8/2004 is available for downloading from the Web site, http://www.shipping.gov.cy/.

For any questions about the above, please contact:

NIPPON KAIJI KYOKAI (ClassNK)
Survey Department, Administration Center, Head Office
Address: 4-7 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8567, Japan
Tel.: +81-3-5226-2027 / 2028
Fax: +81-3-5226-2029
E-mail: svd@classnk.or.jp

Attachment: Cyprus Circular No. 8/2004