The following is a list of rules and considerations when changing the responsible entity under the EU-ETS, which will be applicable to the shipping industry from 2024, and the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, which will be in effect from 2025.
EU-ETS
Responsible Entity
The responsible entity for EU-ETS is either the Registered Owner or the DOC Holder(shipmanager). If the DOC Holder is the responsible entity, a power of attorney must be concluded between the shipowner and the DOC Holder and submitted to the authorities.
EUA Surrender Obligation
If the Responsible Entity changes in the middle of the year, then the previous and subsequent Responsible Entities will each be responsible for EUA surrender obligations for that period. For example, if the change of Responsible Entity occurs on June 30, the previous Responsible Entity will surrender EUAs from January 1 to June 30, and the new Responsible Entity will surrender EUAs from July 1 onward based on the GHG emissions that occurred during the respective period. It is important to note that even if the responsible entity changes, the EUAs emitted under its own responsibility are still required to be amortized by the following year's amortization deadline (September 30 of the following year).
Obligation for previous responsible entity
Where there is a change of the responsible entity, the previous entity 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 entity and to the Commission, as close as practicable to the day of the completion of the change and no later than three months thereafter, a verified emission report but limited to the period corresponding to the activities carried out under its responsibility.(MRV regulation Article11-2）
Obligations of the Responsible Entity after the Change
For each ship under their responsibility at the end of the reporting period, responsible entity must submit an emissions report for the entire reporting period of the previous year, which should have been verified as satisfactory by a verifier. This is true regardless of the responsible entity changes and regardless of the changes in the responsibility for surrendering emissions allowances. The emissions report should cover the whole reporting period: for the period of the year during which the ship was under the responsibility of another company, the report would be based on the partial emissions report submitted by the previous company. However, as mentioned above, the EUA's amortization obligation is not for one year, but from the time of its own assumption of responsibility. (MRV regulation Article11-1)
Monitoring Plan
Monitoring plans must be developed and validated individually for each responsible entity of ETS to fit its company procedures.
EU-MRV Regulation
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02015R0757-20230605
FuelEU Maritime*Details are unknown and based on information known at this time.
Responsible Entity
The responsible entity for FuelEU Maritime is shipmanagement company (DOC Holder)
GHG Intensity takeover
The records of FuelEU Maritime will be transferred from the previous DOC Holder to the new DOC Holder, and the DOC Holder at the end of the year will take necessary actions according to the vessel's operational records for the year. If there are any Compliance Surplus or Compliance Deficit at the time of DOC Holder change, they will also be transferred to the new DOC Holder.（FuelEU Directive Article15-4-c). It is assumed that the vessel's situation will favor or disfavor the DOC Holder before/after the change, but there are no rules regarding these compensations and it will be left to the individual commercial contract.
Obligations for previous DOC Holder
The transferring DOC Holder shall notify to the verifier the emission report for the time during which it had responsibility for the operation of the ship. In addition, as close as practical to the day of completion of the transfer and no later than one month thereafter, the emission report shall be verified and recorded in the FuelEU database. (FuelEU Directive Article 15-4-a,b)
Monitoring Plan
Monitoring plans must be developed and validated individually for each responsible entity of ETS to fit its company procedures.
FuelEU Directive
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1805/oj
/////Update on 04 Dec. 2024//////
In the 3rd FuelEU Maritime Webinar by EMSA, the requirement of each company was explained as follows, assuming that the DOC Holder of the vessel is changed from CompanyA to CompanyB on January 31, 2026
Company A
- Submit full emission report for 2025 and verified it by 31 March 2026.
- Submit Partial Emission Report for the period of 1 Jan 2026 to 31 Jan 2026 and verified it by 28 Feb 2026.
Company A or Company B
- Register banking/barrowing/pooling if necessary
- Pay penalty if necessary
Source: EMSA
Banking and other registration and Penalty payment are available for both Company A and B. On the other hand, it is likely that the Thetis-MRV system does not allow Company B to submit a monitoring plan or enter an emission report for a vessel transferred from Company A unless the vessel is deleted from Company A's fleet and Company B registers the vessel in the Thetis-MRV system.
If Company A is responsible for compliance process related to 2025, Company B will not be able to operate the Thetis-MRV for approximately 5 months from February 1 when the vessel is delivered until the end of June when the completion of compliance process, which may cause inconvenience for Company B if the vessel calls ports in Europe during this period.
Please find below link Question7. How you can release the sold vessel from your Thetis-MRV account.
https://www.emsa.europa.eu/reducing-emissions/webinars_and_tutorials/faq-for-users-thetis-mrv.html
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