Bunkering in Cyprus
Marine fuel at Limassol, Larnaca and Vassiliko — arranged, nominated and supervised by an agent who is not selling you the fuel.
Cyprus sits on the crossing between Suez, the Levant and the western Mediterranean, which makes it a natural place to top up rather than a place most vessels come specially to fuel. That shapes how bunkering works here: stems tend to be modest, they are often combined with a crew change or a stores delivery so the vessel only stops once, and the thing that decides whether the call was worth making is usually not the price per tonne but whether the quantity delivered matched the quantity paid for.
Shoham has been a ship agent in Cyprus since 1951. We do not sell fuel. We obtain quotations, place the nomination, coordinate the barge or road tanker with the terminal and the port authority, and attend the delivery for the owner. Not being the supplier is the whole value of the arrangement — the person watching the manifold has no stake in what the meter reads.
The 0.10% limit changed the answer
The Mediterranean Sea is now a SOx Emission Control Area, and the 0.10% sulphur limit has applied since 1 May 2025. This is the single thing most worth checking before ordering, because it quietly reversed the usual default: VLSFO at 0.50% still satisfies the global cap, but it is not compliant in Cypriot waters. A vessel without an operational scrubber needs 0.10% fuel here.
The practical consequence is a changeover, not just a different order. A vessel arriving on 0.50% has to complete the switch before entering the area and record it, and the tank arrangement has to make that possible in the first place. It is worth raising this at the enquiry stage rather than at the pilot station.
Grades
MGO (DMA)
Distillate, 0.10% sulphur or below
Compliant everywhere in the Mediterranean since May 2025. The default for vessels without scrubbers, and the only practical choice for auxiliary engines and boilers on short calls.
ULSFO
Residual, 0.10% sulphur or below
For vessels that want a residual fuel while staying inside the ECA limit. Availability is thinner than MGO and worth confirming well before arrival.
VLSFO
Residual, 0.50% sulphur
Meets the global cap but NOT the 0.10% Mediterranean limit. Usable here only for a vessel fitted with an operational scrubber.
HSFO
Residual, above 0.50% sulphur
Scrubber-fitted vessels only. Carriage for use is prohibited otherwise, so a non-scrubber vessel cannot lawfully take it even for a later voyage.
Availability differs by port and by grade, and ULSFO in particular is not always on the water. Ask before you commit to a schedule.
Where you can take bunkers
Limassol
The main commercial port and the usual choice. Bunkers can be taken alongside during a commercial call, or at the anchorage without berthing at all, which suits a vessel that only wants fuel and has no cargo to work.
Larnaca
General cargo and offshore support, with bunkering, garbage collection and oil waste reception available. Convenient when the vessel is already working there or supporting offshore activity.
Quantity, quality and the paperwork that settles arguments
Most bunker disputes are not about fraud. They are about measurement, and they are lost long before anyone writes a claim letter — at the moment the gauges were read.
- Joint measurement, before and after. Barge tanks gauged with the vessel's representative present, and again on completion. Temperature matters as much as volume, because the correction to standard temperature is where a small error becomes tonnes.
- The sealed sample is the evidence. MARPOL Annex VI requires the supplier to provide a bunker delivery note and a representative sealed sample. That sample, not the vessel's own drip sample and not the supplier's certificate of quality, is what a dispute turns on. Keep it sealed and labelled correctly.
- Protest at the time, not afterwards. A note of protest issued at delivery preserves a position. A complaint sent once the vessel has sailed rarely recovers it.
- ISO 8217 is the yardstick. Testing against the contractual table is what turns "the engineers are unhappy with it" into a claim that can actually be pursued.
We attend deliveries as a matter of course, and can appoint an independent bunker surveyor where the quantity justifies the cost.
EU carbon costs apply here
Cyprus is an EU member state, so a call is inside the EU Emissions Trading System for ships of 5,000 GT and above. A voyage between two EU ports counts in full; a voyage with one end outside the EU counts at half. FuelEU Maritime runs alongside it and measures the greenhouse-gas intensity of the energy used rather than the tonnage burned.
Neither is settled at the manifold — they fall on the owner or the DOC holder — but they belong in the comparison when a Cyprus stem is being weighed against one outside the EU, because the headline price per tonne is no longer the whole cost.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bunker in Cyprus?
Yes. Bunkers are available at Limassol, at Larnaca and at the Vassiliko terminals, both alongside and at anchorage depending on the port and the quantity. Cyprus is a common top-up point for vessels crossing the eastern Mediterranean, and a call can often be combined with a crew change or stores delivery so the vessel only stops once.
What is the sulphur limit for bunkers in Cyprus?
0.10%. The whole Mediterranean Sea became a SOx Emission Control Area, and the 0.10% limit has applied since 1 May 2025. Cyprus sits inside that area, so a vessel without an operational scrubber must burn 0.10% fuel here — VLSFO at 0.50% is no longer compliant in these waters even though it still meets the global cap.
Do you supply the fuel yourselves?
No, and that is deliberate. We are the ship's agent, not the physical supplier. We source quotations, place the nomination, coordinate the barge or the truck with the terminal and the port authority, and attend the delivery on the owner's behalf. Because we do not sell the fuel, we have no interest in what the meter says — which is the point of having an agent at the manifold rather than trusting the supplier's own figures.
How do I avoid a shortfall on quantity?
Have someone present who is watching for the owner. The usual losses are not dramatic theft but small, repeatable things: tank gauges read before the barge has settled, air in the lines, temperature taken at the wrong point so the volume correction favours the supplier. A joint measurement before and after, properly witnessed, is what makes a claim stick later. We attend as standard and can bring in an independent bunker surveyor where the quantity justifies it.
What happens if the fuel is off-specification?
The retained sample decides it. Under MARPOL Annex VI the supplier must give the vessel a bunker delivery note and a sealed representative sample, and that sample is what any dispute turns on — not the vessel's own drip sample, and not the supplier's certificate. Keep it sealed and correctly labelled. If a test comes back outside the ISO 8217 limits, a note of protest at the time of delivery preserves the owner's position in a way a later complaint does not.
Does bunkering in Cyprus carry an EU carbon cost?
Yes. Cyprus is an EU member state, so a call here falls inside the EU Emissions Trading System for ships of 5,000 GT and above — voyages between two EU ports count in full, and a voyage with one end outside the EU counts at half. FuelEU Maritime applies alongside it and looks at the greenhouse-gas intensity of the energy used rather than the tonnage burned. Both are the owner's or DOC holder's obligation rather than something settled at the manifold, but they belong in the sums when comparing a Cyprus stem against one outside the EU.
How much notice do you need?
Send us the vessel's ETA, the grade and the quantity as early as you have them and we will come back with what is genuinely available rather than what looks good on a schedule. Availability of ULSFO in particular moves around, and a grade that can be delivered at three days' notice is not always there at twelve hours.
Enquire about a stem
Send the vessel's name and ETA, the grade and the quantity, and whether you want it alongside or at anchorage. We will come back with what is actually available rather than what looks good on a schedule. If the call is also a crew change, a stores delivery or a ship-to-ship transfer, say so — it is usually cheaper to do them on one stop.
Regulatory positions described here — the Mediterranean SOx Emission Control Area, the EU Emissions Trading System and FuelEU Maritime — are summarised for general guidance and are current at the time of writing. They are not legal or compliance advice, and the obligations of a particular vessel depend on its tonnage, flag, trade and equipment.