Liberia and Cyprus Sign Maritime Cooperation Agreement at UN General Assembly
A Liberian-flagged container ship. Liberia operates one of the world's largest ship registries (file photo, illustrative, not of a specific vessel named in this story). Photo: pete, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Liberia and Cyprus signed a Memorandum of Understanding on maritime safety, port security and training, with Cyprus offering scholarships to Liberians in maritime and port-security studies, as Foreign Minister Nyanti continues a week of maritime diplomacy in New York.
Liberia and the Republic of Cyprus signed a Memorandum of Understanding on maritime cooperation on September 23, 2026, during bilateral talks held on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, according to The New Dawn Liberia.
Liberia's Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti represented Liberia at the signing, with a Cypriot delegation taking part on the other side. The agreement covers maritime safety, port security, regulatory compliance, information sharing and capacity building, drawing on Cyprus's standing as a major European maritime hub and Liberia's position as one of the world's largest ship registries.
As part of the agreement, Cyprus offered scholarships to Liberians pursuing maritime and port-security studies, aimed at building human-resource capacity in Liberia's maritime sector. "This MOU is not just about security, it is about capacity, opportunity for our youth, and positioning Liberia as a credible maritime partner in the Atlantic and beyond," Nyanti said, according to the report.
The deal is the latest in a string of maritime-focused meetings Liberia has held this week around the UN General Assembly, following a separate U.S.-Liberia Atlantic Ocean maritime business roundtable earlier in the session. It also comes as Liberia serves its first UN Security Council term in 65 years, having taken up a non-permanent seat in January 2026 and set to hold the council's rotating presidency in December.
No timeline for implementing specific projects under the new MoU has yet been made public.