Ship-to-Ship Transfers in Cyprus
STS coordination in Cyprus waters — approvals, mooring masters, fenders, surveyors and the weather watch, run by the agent on the spot.
Cyprus sits where tonnage crossing between Suez, the Black Sea and the western Mediterranean actually passes, which is why cargoes change ships here. A transfer at a Cyprus anchorage saves a deviation, and the island offers what an STS operation needs around it: sheltered designated anchorages, terminal berths at VTTV Vassiliko equipped for STS work, launch services out of Limassol and Larnaca, and an agency desk that has worked these waters since 1951.
We coordinate STS operations for crude, clean and dirty petroleum products, LPG and LNG. We are not the STS service provider and not a party to the cargo — we are the owner's agent, which means the approvals, the logistics and the local knowledge are our job, and nobody on our side has a commercial stake in rushing a marginal weather window.
What the operation needs
An STS transfer is a routine operation exactly as long as everything it depends on was arranged before the vessels met. The pieces:
Mooring master / POAC
Has overall advisory control of the approach, mooring, transfer and unmooring. For liquefied gas cargoes this is the Person in Overall Advisory Control, with gas-specific experience. Both masters remain in command of their own vessels — the mooring master advises, which is why their experience level is worth asking about before nominating.
Primary and secondary fenders
Pneumatic fenders to ISO 17357, sized to the vessels' displacement and the expected approach energy. Undersized or badly positioned fendering is how two hulls in contact become a claim; the fender plan is agreed before the operation, not improvised alongside.
Transfer hoses and equipment
Cargo hoses tested and certified for the product, with drip trays, insulating flanges and emergency release arrangements as the cargo requires. Gas transfers carry their own equipment standards beyond the oil trade's.
Support craft
Launches for personnel transfer, fender positioning and line running. At anchorage everything and everyone that moves between ship and shore moves by boat, and the launch schedule is part of the operation plan.
Independent cargo surveyor
Quantity and quality determination on both vessels, before and after transfer. The same logic as bunkering, scaled up: measurement disputes are lost at the moment of gauging, not in the correspondence afterwards.
The regulatory frame
For oil cargoes, MARPOL Annex I sets the skeleton: tankers of 150 GT and above transferring oil cargo at sea operate under an STS Operations Plan approved by their flag administration, and the coastal state is notified at least 48 hours before the operation. The plans themselves follow the OCIMF/ICS Ship to Ship Transfer Guide, which is also what charterers' vetting departments measure an operation against. Gas transfers bring their own layer — a POAC with liquefied-gas experience and equipment certified for the cargo.
Locally, the operation needs the port authority's approval for the anchorage or berth, and customs formalities where the cargo's status requires them. This is the part that varies most between jurisdictions and the part a local agent exists to make uneventful: we file the notifications, hold the approvals, and keep the operation inside what was approved.
Weather decides the schedule
Every STS plan carries environmental limits — significant wave height, wind, swell direction — and the operation happens when conditions sit inside them, not when the laycan says so. Our weather watch runs from nomination to unmooring: we advise the window, and if it closes mid-operation the plan says what happens next, because that was agreed before anyone made fast. Building a day of slack into the schedule is cheaper than two tankers waiting on a front to pass — or worse, not waiting.
While the vessel is here
A vessel holding for a transfer window is a vessel at anchorage with launches already running. That is the moment to take bunkers, run a crew change, land waste or receive stores and spares — each with its own arrangements, none needing a separate call. Give us the whole picture at nomination and we sequence it around the transfer.
Frequently asked questions
Are ship-to-ship transfers allowed in Cyprus waters?
Yes, with approval. STS operations take place at designated anchorage areas and, for petroleum products, at terminal berths such as VTTV at Vassiliko. The operation needs the port authority's approval and, for oil cargoes, the notifications required by MARPOL Annex I. We obtain the approvals as part of the coordination — the operator's job is to give us the operation's details early enough to secure them.
How much notice does an STS operation in Cyprus need?
Plan around the MARPOL notification: for oil cargo transfers, the coastal state must be notified at least 48 hours before the operation. In practice we want more than that — fender and hose availability, mooring master nomination and port authority approval all take time to line up, and a weather window has to exist at the end of it. A week's notice makes a comfortable operation; 48 hours makes a possible one.
What does MARPOL require for an STS transfer of oil cargo?
Oil tankers of 150 GT and above transferring oil cargo between ships at sea must carry an STS Operations Plan approved by their flag administration, conduct the operation under that plan, and record it. The coastal state gets at least 48 hours' notice. Bunkering deliveries are expressly outside these rules — they cover cargo transfers, which is one reason the two operations are planned differently.
Who provides the fenders and hoses?
An STS service provider, arranged through us. Cyprus does not have equipment sitting on every quay — fender sets and certified hoses are positioned for the operation, which is one of the reasons notice matters. What we do not do is guess: the fender plan is calculated from the actual vessels' displacements and freeboards, and the hose specification from the actual cargo.
Which standards govern the operation itself?
The OCIMF/ICS Ship to Ship Transfer Guide for Petroleum, Chemicals and Liquefied Gases is the industry reference, and charterers' vetting departments expect operations to follow it. The approved STS Operations Plan on each tanker is based on it. Weather limits, mooring arrangements, watch requirements and emergency procedures all come from that framework rather than being negotiated afresh each time.
Can we combine an STS call with anything else?
Usually, and it is normally worth doing. A vessel holding at anchorage for a transfer window can take bunkers, land or receive crew, receive stores and spares, or land waste — each needs its own arrangements, but the vessel is already there and the launches are already running. Tell us the whole call, not just the transfer, and we will sequence it.
What does the agent actually do in an STS operation?
Everything around the transfer that is not the transfer itself: port authority and harbour master approvals, MARPOL notifications, nominating the STS service provider and mooring master, positioning fenders and hoses, launch services, surveyor attendance, customs formalities where cargo status requires them, and the weather watch that decides when the operation runs. The masters and the mooring master run the transfer; we make sure it is allowed to happen and has what it needs.
Nominate an operation
Send both vessels' particulars, the cargo and quantity, and the intended window. We will come back with what the operation needs in Cyprus — approvals, provider options, and an honest view of the weather — rather than a yes that unravels at 48 hours' notice.
Regulatory references — MARPOL Annex I STS requirements and the OCIMF/ICS Ship to Ship Transfer Guide — are summarised for general guidance and are current at the time of writing. The obligations of a particular operation depend on the vessels, the cargo and the flag administrations involved; the approved STS Operations Plan and the authorities' conditions govern.