Today we went to Vassiliko Cement and the Vassiliko port to learn about the cement industry in Cyprus. Vassiliko Cement is a producer of all of its cement and is the largest heavy industry in Cyprus. They have 310 factories in 33 different countries and their port is the only industrial port in Cyprus. In their port, they serve around 300 ships a year. One of the interesting things that we learned about in their presentation was that when loading cement onto ships, they use a conveyor belt that is slanted downward in order to use gravity to load in an effort to reduce emissions. After their presentation, we took a tour around the port to see said contraptions in action. We also saw their control room where 3 people are patrolling a vast amount of monitors to make sure all of the operations that are taking place are doing so efficiently and correctly.

After our visit to Vassiliko, we headed to Zygi to a fish tavern to try fish meze. This meze was unlike anything I’d ever eaten before. It began with prawns, mussels, fries, and calamari. Some of the interesting foods I’d never seen were these tiny crab poppers with the legs still attached. They were fried and you could bite off half of them to eat them correctly. Another amazing food I tried was cuttlefish. Something interesting about the cuttlefish was that you had to remove the beak between the tentacles before you ate it. It reminded me of a cherry pit but in a much different way. We also had a multitude of different fish we had to disembody to eat. Overall, this meze left me completely full and amazed at all of the different fish I’ve never seen let alone tasted which leaves me questioning how many more there are.

Our final trip of the day was to MSC Shipmanagement Company. MSC had a very interesting presentation showing the sheer amount of ships they control. It was also a highlight of their presentation to show off their MSC Irina which is the largest container ship in the world. MSC’s presentation really showed us that they want a work-life balance. It highlighted its family company values. They also presented with immense enthusiasm showing their passion for shipping. Overall, it was a very interesting and engaging watch.