Questions and answers following the ETS Maritime webinar on 12th March 2024 (NEa).

Unfortunately, we do not have a draft version of the mandated agreement yet. We are currently working on this. If you have drafted your own version of the mandated agreement we are happy to have a look at it and inform you if it would be sufficient.

No, a third party cannot surrender EUAs on behalf of the shipping company.

In the fourth webinar of the EC and EMSA, held on the 5^th of March, this topic was discussed. Please refer to the recordings of this webinar at News and Activities - Our ETS extension to maritime webinar series - EMSA - European Maritime Safety Agency (europa.eu). The topic of Thetis-MRV accounts is discussed from 46:40. The helpdesk may be contacted through the following email address: thetis@emsa.europa.eu.

The obligated parties have been attributed to the EU member states by the EC. You can find the list here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/NL/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32024D0411. Please note that only one of either the ship owner or the ISM company are on that list.

In this situation, the 20 registered owners should mandate the ISM company to assume EU ETS and MRV obligations. Once mandated, the ISM company is considered to be the “shipping company” and the shipping company is responsible for compliance. So in the case the shipping company does not surrender enough EUA’s, the shipping company is incompliant. It does not impact the registered owners, since they have mandated all responsibilities to the shipping company.

In case the registered owners do not mandate an ISM company, they themselves are responsible for fulfilling EU ETS and MRV obligations. 

For new shipping companies not included in the attribution list but performing voyages covered by the EU ETS Directive, the rules spelled out in Article 3gf of the Directive apply. Based on these rules, companies should therefore identify which is their administering authority via the THETIS-MRV system.

The THETIS-MRV helpdesk will help the companies assign their responsible administering authority in the system. The helpdesk may be contacted through the following email address: thetis@emsa.europa.eu.

No, unless the ship calls in an EEA port. From the first port of call in the EEA, the shipping company shall submit a verified monitoring plan to the administering authority without undue delay and no later than three months after the port of call.  If the shipping company has already been attributed to an administering authority this will be the authority to submit the monitoring plan to. In case you are a new shipping company you will need to submit the monitoring plan to the administering authority in the state of the EEA port with the first port of call.

At this point, we cannot provide an estimation on how long the approval process of monitoring plans will take.

It is correct that from 1st of January 2025, general cargo and offshore ships of 400 - 5,000 GT are in the MRV scope. This means that the shipping company must submit to the verifier a monitoring plan without undue delay and no later than two months after the ship has called at an EEA-port.

After the verifier has assessed the monitoring plan as satisfactory, the monitoring plan forms the basis for the monitoring of the emissions of the ship. Since the ships of 400 – 5,000 GT fall under MRV scope from 1^st January 2025 but not under ETS scope, it is not necessary to submit the monitoring plan to the administering authority.

The possible new deadline for MP submission will only apply for companies attributed to The Netherlands.

If this voyage meets the below mentioned requirements only the emissions from the voyage North Ireland to the Netherlands are under MRV and EU ETS obligations.

The MRV and ETS obligations apply to ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above in respect of the greenhouse gas emissions released during their voyages for transporting for commercial purposes cargo or passengers from such ships’ last port of call to a port of call under the jurisdiction of a Member State and from a port of call under the jurisdiction of a Member State to their next port of call, as well as within ports of call under the jurisdiction of a Member State.
 
In Regulation (EU) 2015/757 article 3c, a voyage is defined as "any movement of a ship that originates from or terminates in a port of call". For the definition of "port of call", the Regulation refers to Directive 2003/87/EC.
 
In Directive 2003/87/EC article 3z, a port of call is defined as "the port where a ship stops to load or unload cargo or to embark or disembark passengers, or the port where an offshore ship stops to relieve the crew; stops for the sole purposes of refuelling, obtaining supplies, relieving the crew of a ship other than an offshore ship, going into dry-dock or making repairs to the ship, its equipment, or both, stops in port because the ship is in need of assistance or in distress, ship-to-ship transfers carried out outside ports, stops for the sole purpose of taking shelter from adverse weather or rendered necessary by search and rescue activities, and stops of containerships in a neighbouring container transhipment port listed in the implementing act adopted pursuant to Article 3ga(2) are excluded".
 
For specific situations, we refer you to the FAQ-page of the EMSA on https://www.emsa.europa.eu/reducing-emissions/faq-mrv-changes.html, specifically the chapter "voyages and ports of call".

No, unless the ship calls in an EEA port. From the first port of call in the EEA, the shipping company shall submit a verified monitoring plan to the administering authority without undue delay and no later than three months after the port of call.  If the shipping company has already been attributed to an administering authority this will be the authority to submit the monitoring plan to. In case you are a new shipping company you will need to submit the monitoring plan to the administering authority in the state of the EEA port with the first port of call.

Yes, of any Chamber of Commerce (does not need to be the Dutch Chamber of Commerce). However, for a trading account, it is mandatory to be a member of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce.

The attribution to a national part of the Union registry is linked to the attribution of the MRV administering authority. See FAQ – Maritime transport in EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) - European Commission (europa.eu) under ‘Administering authorities’ for the rules used.

If you already have a MOHA for other ships, please send us an updated list of ships after calling at the port. No other action is required for the MOHA – you do of course need to send in an MP through THETIS MRV for the new ship.

If you are a new shipping company, please use the regular route of applying for a MOHA through our web form and mention in the comments that this is a new ship. And of course send in the MP through THETIS MRV.

At this point, we cannot provide an estimation on how long the approval process of monitoring plans will take.

The NEa is the administering authority on EU ETS Maritime, this means that only the NEa approves the verified monitoring plans and is responsible for compliance and enforcement on the monitoring and reporting of emissions. As a consequence the flag state authority does not approve monitoring plans and is not responsible for the monitoring and reporting of emissions. The approval of monitoring plans by the NEa is based on the legal framework as established by the European Commission.

In case the MP has already been verified and submitted to the administering authority, it is not necessary to have the MP verified again by the new verifier. The new verifier needs to get an account in THETIS MRV. Please contact the EMSA helpdesk in case of any questions about this via thetis@emsa.europa.eu.

The NEa will direct your remark to the EMSA. But we advise you to always refer to the EMSA helpdesk yourself for any problems or questions about THETIS-MRV: thetis@emsa.europa.eu.

Yes, we will provide you with an explanation on how to input the emission figures and how to surrender the allowance. This will be nearer to the deadline date (31^st March 2025 for entering emission figures and 30^th September 2025 for surrendering allowances).

The NEa is working on your question and will add an answer as soon as possible.

For the monitoring under the MRV, biofuels have an emissions factor. The emissions factors are stated in Annex I of Regulation 2015/757.

In the EU ETS the emissions factor of biofuels may be multiplied by zero, only when the sustainability and greenhouse gas emission saving criteria can be proven. The rules for proving the sustainability are still under construction.

For the monitoring under the MRV, carbon captured or stored may not be deducted from the vessels emissions.

The EU ETS Directive provides specific provisions with regards to CCS/CCU technologies. Companies must not surrender allowances for the following:

• CO₂ captured and transferred to an installation to be stored in a storage site in accordance with the CCS Directive;
• CO₂ utilised to become permanently chemically bound in a product so that it doesn’t enter the atmosphere (subject to the conditions to be set out in the implementing acts under development; adoption is expected in the course of 2024).

Shipping companies that fail to surrender allowances are liable to an excess emissions penalty of EUR 100 (corrected for inflation) per tonne of CO₂ equivalent and are still liable for the surrender of the required allowances. The names of the penalized companies are also disclosed to the public.

Furthermore, in case a shipping company has failed to comply with surrendering its obligations for two or more consecutive reporting periods, and where other enforcement measures have failed to ensure compliance, the competent authority of the EU Member State of the port of entry may, after giving the opportunity to the company concerned to submit its observations, issue an expulsion order. In practice, this means that every EU Member State, with the exception of the flag state, is required to refuse entry to the ships under the responsibility of the shipping company concerned into any of its ports, until the company fulfils its surrender obligations.

Where such a ship flies the flag of an EU Member State and enters or is found in one of its ports, the concerned EU Member State will, after giving the opportunity to the concerned company to submit its observations, detain the ship until the company fulfils its surrender obligations.