Shipping
The sector overview — fleet, the Limassol cluster and how the money works.
Cyprus Maritime
Shipping & Beyond
The 11th largest merchant fleet in the world, and the 3rd largest in the EU. This is the reference for how it works and who is in it.
MarineCyprus is an independent portal covering Cyprus shipping, ship management, flag registration, tonnage tax and marinas. We are not a broker, a registry or an agent, we take no commission, and no company pays to appear in our directory.
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Explore Cyprus maritime
Four sections, each with the reference material underneath it.
Marinas & ports
4 marinas and 1,537 berths, with dimensions, facilities and rates.
Companies
12 profiled Cyprus maritime companies — managers, owners, P&I clubs and class.
Events & news
Conferences and exhibitions, plus daily coverage of the sector.
Every marina in Cyprus
4 marinas and 1,537 berths along the south and east coasts, plus 3 commercial and industrial ports.
4 Marinas
15 Ports
Who operates from Cyprus
12 profiled companies, from the ship managers running global fleets out of Limassol to the P&I clubs and class societies around them.
Is Cyprus a shipping hub?
Yes. Cyprus operates the 11th largest merchant fleet in the world and the 3rd largest in the European Union, with over 25 million gross tons registered under its flag. More than 220 maritime companies are based on the island, the majority clustered in Limassol, and third-party ship managers there run over 3,500 vessels worldwide. The sector is anchored by an EU flag on the Paris MOU White List and an EU-approved tonnage tax regime.
What makes it a hub rather than just a large register is that the three things a shipowner needs sit in one jurisdiction. The flag is an EU flag on the Paris MOU White List, so port state control in Europe treats it as quality and inspects it less. Registration takes about 5–7 days, with a provisional certificate inside 48 hours that lets a vessel trade immediately.
The tonnage tax regime then taxes qualifying shipping income on net tonnage instead of profit — and unusually, it extends to ship managers, not only owners. That is why the management cluster in Limassol is as dense as it is: managers, classification societies, P&I correspondents and maritime lawyers within a few streets of each other, which keeps crewing pools and technical staff mobile between firms.
The counterweight is scale. Cyprus is a management and registration centre, not a transhipment giant — Limassol handles container, cruise and general cargo traffic, but the island competes on jurisdiction and expertise rather than on port throughput.
Common questions
- What is the largest port in Cyprus?
- Limassol is the largest port in Cyprus and the island’s main commercial gateway, handling container, cruise and general cargo traffic. Larnaca and Vasiliko serve passenger and industrial traffic respectively, and Paphos Harbour handles smaller vessels.
- How much is tonnage tax in Cyprus?
- Cyprus charges tonnage tax on net tonnage rather than profit, in marginal bands running from €36.50 per 100 net tons on the first 1,000 NT down to €7.30 above 40,001 NT. Low-emission vessels qualify for a discount of up to 30%. The regime is EU-approved and runs to 2030.
- How many marinas does Cyprus have?
- Cyprus has 4 marinas along its south and east coasts — Limassol Marina, Ayia Napa Marina, Larnaca Marina, St. Raphael Marina — offering 1,537 berths between them, alongside 3 commercial and industrial ports.
4–6 October 2027
Maritime Cyprus 2027
Maritime Cyprus is the flagship biennial conference organized by the Shipping Deputy Ministry in cooperation with the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and the Cyprus Union of Shipowners. Since 1989, it has brought together the global maritime community to discuss industry challenges and opportunities.
1,000+
Delegates
50
Countries
30+
Sessions
16th
Edition Since 1989
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