By 31 August 2024 – Monitoring plans

Shipping companies will need to submit a monitoring plan to verifiers for assessment for each of their ships indicating their chosen method to monitor and report the amount, type and emission factor of energy used onboard.

From 1 January 2025 – Recording information

Based on the monitoring plan, each company will need to record the following information on an annual (1 January to 31 December) basis. for each of its ships arriving at, berthed at or departing from an EEA port:

  • port of departure and port of arrival including the date and hour of departure and arrival and time spent at berth;
  • for container and passenger ships, the connection to and use of on-shore power or the existence of any of the exceptions;
  • the amount of each type of fuel consumed at berth and at sea;
  • the well-to-wake emission factors for each type of fuel consumed at berth and at sea, broken down by well-to-tank, tank-to-wake and fugitive emissions, covering all relevant greenhouse gases; and
  • the amount of each type of substitute source of energy consumed at berth and at sea.

By 30 March 2026 – Information submission

From 2026, and in each subsequent year, by 30 March the company is to provide the verifier the information listed above (in recording information) for each of its ships.

By 30 March 2026 – Pooling

From 2026, and in each subsequent year, by 30 March companies are to notify verifiers of their intention to include a ship in a pool for the preceding reporting period. If the pool includes ships controlled by two or more companies, they should jointly notify the verifier.

Once a FuelEU certificate of compliance is issued pooling cannot be changed.

By 30 April 2026 - Reporting

From 2026, and in each subsequent year, by 30 April the verifier will have reported the following information back to the company:

  • the yearly average greenhouse gas intensity of the energy used on-board by the ship.
  • the ship’s compliance balance.
  • the number of non-compliant port calls in the previous reporting.
  • period including the time spent at berth for each non-compliant port call; and
  • the amount of the penalties.

The shipping company will then record that information in a compliance database (to be established by the European Commission).

By 30 April 2026 - Compliance surplus / deficit

Ships with a compliance surplus may have that compliance surplus banked until the following reporting period.

Ships with a compliance deficit may borrow an advance compliance surplus from the subsequent reporting period, but it will be subtracted from that subsequent reporting period at 1.1 x the advanced compliance surplus.

From 2026, and in each subsequent year, by 30 April, the company has to record the use of any advance compliance surplus, following approval by its verifier, in the compliance database.

Once a FuelEU certificate of compliance is issued surplus banking or use of an advanced surplus cannot be changed.

By 30 April 2026 - Pooling

From 2026, and in each subsequent year, by 30 April, the verifier has to record the use of a pool in the compliance database, after which the composition of the pool cannot change.

On 1 May 2026 - Penalties

From 2026, and in each subsequent year, on 1 May, if the ship has a compliance deficit the company will need to pay a penalty.

At the same time, in addition, the company will need to pay a penalty for each non-compliant port call.

The funds raised from the penalties will be allocated to support common projects aimed at decarbonising the maritime sector.

By 30 June 2026 – FuelEU certificate of compliance

From 2026, and in each subsequent year, by 30 June the verifier will issue a FuelEU certificate of compliance for the ship valid until 30 June in the subsequent year. Ships entering an EEA port will have to carry a valid certificate of compliance.

A certificate cannot be issued if the ship has a compliance deficit or non-compliant port calls for which the penalty has not been paid.

Failure to present a FuelEU certificate of compliance for two or more consecutive reporting periods could result in a ship being banned from the EU.

From 1 January 2030 - Zero-emission berthing

Container and passenger ships entering EEA ports will need to connect to onshore power supplies in order to meet new zero-emission at berth requirements. There are several exceptions to the requirements, which include using zero-emission technology onboard whilst at berth.

Surplus banking and usage: Any compliance surplus compared to the annual reference value may be banked until the following reporting period.

Any compliance deficit compared to the annual reference value may borrow an advance compliance surplus from the subsequent reporting period, but it will be subtracted from that subsequent reporting period at 1.1 x the advanced compliance surplus. Once a FuelEU certificate of compliance is issued surplus banking or use of an advanced surplus cannot be changed.

Pooling: To incentivise the decarbonisation of the maritime industry, the annual compliance balance of two or more ships may be pooled if verified by the same verifier. Allocation of the pooled allowance is at the discretion of the company/companies.

Penalties: Penalties are to be paid for each ship with a compliance deficit. Similarly, penalties are to be paid for each non-compliant port call.

The funds raised from the penalties will be allocated to support common projects aimed at decarbonising the maritime sector.

Zero Emission Berthing: From 1 January 2030 container and passenger ships entering EEA ports will need to connect to onshore power supplies to meet new zero-emission at berth requirements at major EEA ports. This will also apply to other EEA ports from 2035 if they have an on-shore power supply. There are several exceptions to the requirements, which include staying at port for less than two hours, using zero-emission technology onboard whilst at berth or making a port call due to unforeseen circumstances or emergencies.

Who is responsible for ensuring compliance with the FuelEU requirements?

The shipping company is responsible for ensuring compliance with the requirements of the FuelEU regulation. As per regulation EU 2015/757 (MRV), the 'company' means the shipowner or any other organisation or person, such as the manager or the bareboat charterer, which has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the shipowner.