Limassol port ready for ‘Estia’ evacuations, harbourmaster says

The port of Limassol is ready to provide its facilities for potential evacuations of people from conflict zones via Cyprus through the government’s ‘Estia’ plan, should the need arise, its harbourmaster Panayiotis Agathokleous said on Monday.

“We are implementing the ‘Estia’ plan and are waiting as there is, so far, no request from any embassy for the evacuation and the use of the port of Limassol,” he told the Cyprus News Agency.

He added that the ports authority, the civil defence, the red cross, and the foreign ministry are all “ready to implement the plan”, and said that if the Limassol port is asked to provide its services, the reception of people evacuating from any conflict zone would take place at the DP World terminal, as it did last year.

Additionally, he said, the port has heightened its security measures, increasing patrols and checks on people entering its terminals.

His comments come after Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos had said on Saturday that the Cypriot government had activated the ‘Estia’ plan, adding that he plan is “activated in the event of an emergency or crisis, to allow the safe evacuation of people from nearby crisis areas from the wider Middle East region via Cyprus”.

Under the ‘Estia plan’, Cyprus acts as a hub for European Union and third country nationals to be evacuated from conflict zones to the island before travelling onwards to their countries of origin.