NICOSIA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A major ferry company operating in the Channel between Britain and France is re-registering its ships under the flag of Cyprus because of Brexit uncertainties, an official said Friday.
Deputy Minister of Shipping Natasa Pilidou said P&O Ferries, which operates six ferries for routes between Dover and Calais, has notified Cypriot authorities of its intention to register them under the flag of Cyprus.
She said two of the ferries, "Spirit of Britain" and "Spirit of France", have already been registered in Cyprus and the other four will also raise the Cypriot flag in the coming days.
"I consider that we have been benefited by Brexit in the shipping sector, despite the fact that the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union (EU) is an unpleasant development," Pilidou said.
P&O Ferries has announced that in advance of Britain leaving the EU, it is reviewing the flag status of its ships as a means of continuing to benefit from tax arrangements of EU states.
"For operational and accounting reasons, we have concluded that the best course of action is to re-flag all ships to be under the Cyprus flag," it said in a statement.
Pilidou said that Cyprus has 60 more ferries operating in European ports under its flag.
