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Marine gas oil was averaging USD $1.18 per liter at Mediterranean fueling points in April 2026, up from $1.03 in April 2024 and roughly flat against April 2025. On a 50m yacht running a typical Riviera week with 22 hours of underway time, that 14% two-year fuel-price increase moves the fuel line in APA by roughly €4,200. On a 70m yacht running the same week, it moves the line by €8,500. On a 95m, it moves the line by €17,000.
If you have noticed that your APA bottom line is bigger this season and you did not run more transit hours, that is what you are looking at. Fuel is moving through APA, not through the headline rate.
This post is the math. We have set out marine gas oil prices, yacht-by-size fuel consumption, the typical underway and at-anchor hours for a week, and the resulting APA fuel line. Where we have used estimated values, we have flagged them. The math is for orientation. The yacht's own captain will quote you the actual.
Marine gas oil pricing as of May 2026
Marine gas oil (MGO) is the standard fuel for charter yachts in the Med and Caribbean. Prices below are from major refueling points, May 2026, in USD per liter, excluding VAT and any duty:
| Port | Price USD/liter May 2026 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Gibraltar | $1.04 | +5% |
| Mallorca (STP) | $1.12 | +8% |
| Marseille | $1.18 | +9% |
| Monaco | $1.34 | +11% |
| Capri/Naples | $1.21 | +9% |
| Tivat (Montenegro) | $1.09 | +6% |
| Bodrum | $1.16 | +12% |
| St Maarten | $1.08 | +7% |
| Antigua | $1.14 | +9% |
| Tortola (BVI) | $1.21 | +10% |
Source:. Prices vary day-to-day. The captain will quote the day price at booking.
Monaco is the single most expensive routine fueling point in the Med and yachts that fuel at Monaco are usually doing so for convenience, not price. A 65m yacht fueling at Monaco rather than Antibes pays roughly €2,500 more for a 15,000-liter top-up. That cost shows up in APA.
Yacht fuel consumption by size and operating profile
The other half of the math. Fuel consumption is the yacht's hourly burn rate at the speed it actually runs. Most charter yachts are scheduled to cruise at 11 to 13 knots in the Med, occasionally at 15 to 18 knots for repositioning. The chart below is approximate hourly fuel burn at typical cruise.
| LOA | Cruise speed | Burn at cruise (l/hr) | Burn at 18 knots (l/hr) | Burn at anchor with gensets (l/hr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35m | 12 knots | 180 to 250 | 380 to 480 | 25 to 35 |
| 45m | 12 knots | 280 to 380 | 580 to 720 | 35 to 50 |
| 55m | 12 knots | 380 to 500 | 850 to 1,100 | 45 to 70 |
| 65m | 12 knots | 480 to 620 | 1,100 to 1,400 | 60 to 90 |
| 80m | 12 knots | 620 to 820 | 1,500 to 1,900 | 80 to 120 |
| 95m | 12 knots | 800 to 1,100 | 1,900 to 2,500 | 110 to 160 |
| 110m+ | 12 knots | 1,000 to 1,400 | 2,400 to 3,200 | 140 to 220 |
Sources: published builder spec sheets, captain-reported figures, and. Burn varies by hull, engine package, and load. The range covers most charter yachts in the size class.
A 65m yacht hybrid running diesel-electric mode at low cruise burns 30% to 40% less than the non-hybrid equivalent. This is the differentiator on yachts like Cresc and Savannah that we covered in the Med fleet additions piece and the Savannah profile.
The week math: typical Riviera 7-day charter
To put numbers behind the pass-through, here is a worked example. A 65m yacht running a typical Cap d'Antibes 7-day loop with the following profile:
- Underway hours: 22 (mostly at 12 knot cruise, two 18-knot 90-minute repositions)
- At-anchor hours with gensets: 130 (most of the week)
- Marina hours (shore power): 16 (two overnights at Monaco and Saint-Tropez)
Underway fuel: 22 hours x 550 l/hr cruise = 12,100 liters. Plus two 90-minute 18-knot repositions at 1,200 l/hr = 3,600 liters. Underway subtotal: 15,700 liters.
At anchor fuel: 130 hours x 75 l/hr = 9,750 liters.
Total week fuel: roughly 25,450 liters.
At the May 2026 average price of $1.18 per liter (Marseille/Antibes range), the fuel line for the week is USD $30,030.
At the April 2024 price of $1.03 per liter, the same week was $26,200. That is a $3,830 increase year-on-year (and the 14% gap from April 2024 to April 2026 turns into roughly $3,800 more on this week).
On a charter fee of €625K with 30% APA, the APA budget is €187,500. The fuel line is around 16% of APA. The rest goes to provisioning, marina, gratuity, communications, and miscellaneous shore costs.
Why the broker's APA percentage moved this year
When a broker says APA on a yacht is 32% this season instead of 30% last season, the fuel line is usually 50% to 60% of the explanation. The rest is dockage tariff increases (we covered the Monaco move in the dockage piece) and provisioning inflation.
On a 50m to 70m yacht running a standard Med week, a 2-point APA increase translates to roughly €12,000 to €18,000 in additional pre-charter budget. The yacht is not necessarily spending more. The pre-charter call on the client's wallet is bigger because the broker is pricing the float to cover the variance, not the average.
What clients should do about it
Three useful moves.
First, ask the captain for the prior week's actual APA usage. The broker has a budget. The captain has the actuals. The captain will give you a real number if you ask before the contract is signed.
Second, ask whether the contract has APA reconciliation upward or downward only. Most MYBA charter contracts reconcile both ways and unspent APA is refunded. Some non-MYBA contracts (notably some Greek-flag and Turkish-flag charters) have one-way APA. We covered the MYBA contract pitfalls separately.
Third, ask about a documented fuel cap. Some yachts will agree to a fuel-cap clause that limits the captain's authority to run hard transit hours without client sign-off. This is most useful on long Med crossings (Naples to Athens, Croatia to Greece) where the captain has discretion over routing.
The hybrid bonus
If you are deciding between two equivalent yachts in the 40m to 65m segment and one is hybrid, the hybrid will save 15% to 25% on the fuel line over a standard Med week. That is €4,000 to €8,000 in delivered cost on a 50m yacht week. Hybrid is not yet cost-saving on a 5-year ownership horizon, but on a charter week the saving is real.
Documented hybrid yachts in the Med charter fleet include M/Y Savannah (83m, Feadship), M/Y Home (50m, Heesen), and M/Y Cresc (44m, Heesen). The number is growing slowly.
Caribbean differences
The Caribbean fuel profile is different. Less underway time, more at-anchor time, shorter inter-island runs. A typical Caribbean week on a 65m yacht runs:
- Underway hours: 12 to 16
- At-anchor hours with gensets: 145 to 150
- Marina hours: minimal (most Caribbean weeks anchor through)
Total fuel for a 65m Caribbean week is roughly 18,000 to 22,000 liters, around 25% less than the Med week. At Tortola pricing ($1.21 per liter May 2026), the week fuel line is USD $21,800 to $26,600.
This is one reason Caribbean APA tends to run 2 to 3 points lower than Med APA on the same yacht.
FAQ
How is APA calculated and who holds it? APA is calculated as a percentage of the charter fee (typically 25% to 35%) and is paid by the client to the broker or central agent at the time of contract execution. The funds are held in a client account and disbursed by the captain during the charter. Reconciliation occurs within 14 to 28 days after charter end.
Can a captain refuse to refuel at a cheaper port? The captain is responsible for safe operations and refuels where the operational plan requires. A captain will not detour 80 miles to save $0.10 per liter. A captain will absolutely detour 8 miles to save $0.20 per liter on a 20,000-liter top-up, because that is real money.
Do owners ever subsidize fuel? Rarely on commercial charter. Some owners offer a "fuel inclusive" arrangement on private-style charters within an affiliate program, but those are not MYBA-standard. The norm is APA pass-through.
Why is Monaco fuel so much more expensive? Monaco's bunker arrangement runs through a single supplier with limited competition, and the duty position differs from neighboring French ports. The convenience premium is roughly 12% to 18% over Antibes.
Does sailing yacht charter avoid this entirely? Sailing yachts still burn fuel for gensets at anchor, for hot water, and for the engines when wind is light or the routing requires motoring. A sailing yacht's week fuel line is typically 30% to 50% of a comparable-size motor yacht's line, not zero.
Passed on
We did not break out hybrid fuel savings by specific make and model because the published builder figures vary widely from captain-reported figures and we have not yet built a public-quality data set. We will revisit when the sample is bigger.
CTA BLOCKS
Primary: "Inquire about charter with full fuel-cost transparency." Routes to the charter desk with a "fuel-detail brief" filter. Secondary: Newsletter signup. Tertiary: Related-post grid linking to the APA explained guide, the H1 2026 rate trends, the fuel cost by yacht piece, and the Med dockage 2026 piece.