The EU MRV Regulation, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2023/957, applies to ships of 5,000 gt and above in respect of GHG emissions released during their voyages from or/and to ports in the EEA for transporting cargo or passengers for commercial purposes.

In addition, from January 1, 2025, EU MRV is extended to apply to offshore ships above 400 gt and general cargo ships below 5,000 gt but not below 400 gt.

Certain vessel types are exempt from the regulation, including warships, naval auxiliaries, fish-catching or fish-processing vessels, ships without mechanical propulsion and government ships engaged in non-commercial activities.

The EU MRV Regulation covers GHG emissions of CO₂, methane and nitrous oxides from ships during their voyages and while at ports under a member State’s jurisdiction. Emissions released within a port of call encompass those generated while the ship is docked at berth, and those produced when the ship is not berthed but navigating within the port of call between two voyages.

The concept of a port of call marks the beginning and end of a voyage. It refers to the port where a ship stops to load or unload cargo, embark or disembark passengers, or, in the case of an offshore vessel, relieve the crew.

The regulation outlines specific exceptions to certain stops which are not considered a port of call, including:

·       Stops for the sole purpose of refueling, obtaining supplies (including fodder for vessels transporting animals as cargo), relieving the crew of a ship other than an offshore ship, going into dry-dock or making repairs to the ship and/or its equipment

·       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.

·       Stops of containerships in a neighboring container transshipment port (Port of Said and Tanger Med).

The exclusion of the aforementioned stops from the concept of port of call does not mean that the relevant emissions are outside of the scope of the EU MRV Regulation, as their inclusion solely depends on the preceding and next stop, and whether either of those qualify as a port of call under the EU MRV.

The table below lists typical stops and activities, indicating whether they affect the voyage as defined by the EU MRV Regulation.

Shipping Company

The inclusion of the maritime sector in the EU ETS Directive brings, in addition to ship-level reporting, the requirement for reporting at the company level. Under the EU MRV (and EU ETS) frameworks, the entity responsible for compliance can be either the shipowner (i.e., the registered owner) or the ISM Manager, if it differs from the owner. The registered owner and the ISM Manager should determine which of them is best suited to handle the responsibilities relating to EU ETS and MRV requirements. If no clear decision is made between the two, the registered owner will automatically be deemed responsible for meeting the EU MRV and EU ETS obligations.

Ship-Level Monitoring and Reporting

The monitoring at the ship level should be carried out in accordance with a verified monitoring plan. In this regard, shipping companies need to submit a monitoring plan for each of the ships under their responsibility to an accredited verifier for assessment. The monitoring plan, assessed by the verifier, must also be submitted to the administering authority responsible for the vessel. For ships falling within the scope of the EU MRV calling at an EU port for the first time after January 1, 2024, companies shall submit a monitoring plan to the administering authority responsible without undue delay and no later than three months after each ship’s first port call to a port under the jurisdiction of a member State.

By March 31 of each year, starting in 2025, companies shall, for each ship under their responsibility, submit to the administering authorities and to the commission an emissions report (ER) for the entire reporting period of the previous year, which has been verified as satisfactory by their verifier.

For voyages starting and ending in two different years, and in accordance with the definition of the reporting period, which does not extend beyond a calendar year, from January 1 to December 31, any data pertaining to these voyages shall be accounted for under the appropriate year.

Where there is a Change of Company, the previous company shall submit to the administering authority responsible, to the authorities of the flag States concerned for ships flying the flag of a member State, to the new company and to the commission, as close as practicable to the day of completion of the change and no later than three months thereafter, a verified report but limited to the period corresponding to the activities carried out under its responsibility, a partial ER. This obligation remains in place even if the entity responsible for EU MRV (and EU ETS) shifts during a reporting period from the registered owner to the ISM manager or the other way around.

Where the ER is assessed as satisfactory, the verifier, based on the verification report, should issue a Document of Compliance (DoC).   The DoC shall be valid for a period of 18 months after the end of the reporting period. By June 30 of the year following the end of a reporting period, ships arriving at, within or departing from a port under the jurisdiction of a member State, and which have carried out voyages during that reporting period, shall carry on board a valid DoC.

Exemption from Monitoring on a Per-Voyage Basis

By default, a shipping company must monitor all relevant activity data separately for each voyage. However, a general derogation of this rule is applicable, which allows monitoring at an annually aggregated level, subject to the following two conditions:

• All of the ship’s voyages during the reporting period are EEA-related voyages
• The ship performs more than 300 voyages during the reporting period

This exemption infers that providing the data to the verifier on a per-voyage basis is not compulsory to the extent that other documents and data (such as bunker delivery notes) can be used to calculate the ship’s aggregated data. Nevertheless, where emissions fall under the scope of any of the specific EU ETS derogations (provided for in Article 12(3-b) – related to the outermost regions, 12(3-c) – related to the transnational public service obligation performed by passenger ships or ro-pax ships or 12(3-d) – related to voyages performed by passenger ships and by ro-pax ships between a port of a member State and a port of an island with less than 200,000 permanent residents), shipping companies must monitor relevant information on a per-voyage basis, unless all voyages in the reporting period fall under the derogation.

Company-Level Reporting

Shipping companies are required to compile and report aggregated emissions data at the company level, submitting this information to the designated administering authority. In addition to ship-level emission report verification, the company-level data is to be verified. When performing verification at a company level, the verifier shall assess the completeness of the reported data and the consistency of the reported data with the information provided for the individual ships, including its verified emissions report.

By March 31 of each year, starting in 2025, companies shall submit the aggregated emissions data at the company level to the administering authority responsible. The administering authority responsible may require companies to submit the verified aggregated emissions data at the company level by a date earlier than March 31 but not earlier than February 28.

Physical Site Visits

In accordance with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2917, a physical site visit is required for verifying ERs only if no such visit has occurred during the three consecutive reporting periods immediately prior to the current one, with this three-year cycle beginning after January 1, 2024. Essentially, this mandates a physical site visit for a ship’s ER verification at least once every four years starting in 2024.

The verifier determines the site visit location(s) based on a risk analysis, factoring in where the bulk of relevant data is stored and where data management and control activities occur. This means the visit might take place at, for example, the company’s headquarters rather than onboard the ship itself. Additionally, a verifier may opt for virtual site visits or skip the visit entirely if certain conditions are met. However, conducting a virtual site visit does not waive the requirement.

Risk of Non-Compliant Vessels

In the case of a ship that has failed to comply with the monitoring and reporting obligations for two or more consecutive periods and where other enforcement measures have failed to ensure compliance, the competent authority of the member State of the port of entry may, after allowing the company concerned to submit its observations, issue an expulsion order, which shall be notified to the commission, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), the other member States and the flag State concerned.

Where such a ship flies the flag of a member State and enters or is found in one of its ports, the member State shall, after giving the opportunity to the company concerned to submit its observations, detain the ship until the company fulfills its monitoring and reporting obligations.