Maritime Industry navigates upcoming EU Emissions Trading System.

What you need to know!

The European Union is striving to be the world’s first climate-neutral continent. To get there, businesses are facing an unprecedented challenge. With fossil fuels still cheap and available, it’s difficult for companies to switch to more sustainable alternatives without losing their competitive edge. To address this price gap between fossil and renewable power, the EU has implemented their Emission Trading System.

This market-based system for carbon emissions has already been up and running for years, but in 2024 the maritime sector will be added into its scope, requiring ship owners to acquire and surrender allowances for each tonne of CO2 emitted by their vessels which are above a certain size. The collected funds will be used to subsidize projects to advance the energy transition. One tonne of CO2 is currently traded for 75 euros, but it was up to 105 euros earlier this year.

To lower the burden on companies, the ETS will see a gradual phase-in period where in the first year only 40% of emissions have to be covered. In the second and third year this will be 70% and 100% respectively. All voyages within the EU are covered, if a voyage goes outside of the EU, the emissions in scope are reduced by 50%.

At Samskip, clarity and close communication with our customers is very important. Therefore, to maintain our transparency with all our customers, this carbon tax will be applied as a separate charge, over and above the freight rate. The final price applied for each different trade lane will be communicated to you on December 15, 2023.

As these new regulations continue to affect our industry, Samskip remains committed to reducing its carbon footprint to Net-Zero by 2040. We do this by optimizing our routes, operational schedules, and by investing in more sustainable assets and fuels.

For more information about how Samskip supports customers and our industry in adopting more sustainable solutions, please contact a Samskip sales representative, or check out our latest sustainability report at www.samskip.com.