Shipping company
The shipping company is the entity responsible for compliance with the obligations under the MRV Regulation and the EU ETS. The registered owner is considered as the shipping company, by default, and thus the entity responsible for compliance with the MRV and EU ETS obligations.
However, the registered shipowner may mandate another entity, the ISM responsible company (DOC holder), to comply with the MRV and EU ETS obligations. A document that demonstrates the existence of an agreement according to which the ISM Company is mandated by the registered owner to comply with these obligations in respect of one or several ships must be submitted to the administering authority responsible, in accordance with the rules set out in Regulation (EU) 2023/2599. In the absence of such a document, the registered shipowner is considered as the shipping company (the responsible entity).
The same entity is responsible for both the MRV and EU ETS obligations. Therefore, if the shipowner decides not to delegate the EU ETS obligations, it is also responsible for the MRV obligations.
The term ‘registered owner’ refers to the owner specified on a ship’s certificate of registry. The registered owner is determined on the basis of its IMO Unique Company and Registered Owner Identification Number.
Please note that, in respect of a given ship, a bareboat charterer cannot be considered as the shipowner within the meaning of the ETS Directive. This consideration also applies in the case where the ship is subject to a ‘parallel registration’ in the registry of two administrations.
The term ‘ISM Company’ refers to the organisation or person, such as the manager or the bareboat charterer, that has assumed the responsibility for the operation of the ship from the shipowner.
Upon assuming such responsibility, this entity has agreed to take over all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention, set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 336/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Regulation
Responsibilities in case of change in shipping company
A change of shipping company occurs anytime a change of the company assuming responsibility for MRV and EU ETS obligations in respect of a given ship takes place.
Such a change may be due to a change of ownership (i.e. sale and purchase of a ship) or to a change in the ISM Company being mandated to assume responsibility in accordance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2599.
Where there is a change of shipping company, both the previous and the new company are assigned responsibilities. This includes submitting emissions reports and modifying the monitoring plan. More information is available in the chapters dedicated to emissions reports and monitoring plans.
After a ship changes shipping company, the previous shipping company shall submit a verified partial emissions report to the administering authority within three months after the change, as specified in the MRV Regulation, Article 11 (2).
A ship can only be assigned to one company at a time in THETIS-MRV. To avoid complicating the completion of the aforementioned responsibilities, it is recommended that the verified partial emissions report is submitted before the ship is transferred to the new company.
For ships covered by the EU ETS
The previous company is also responsible for including the emissions from the ship during the time it was part of their fleet in the aggregated emissions report at company level (CER), that shall be submitted 31 March the following year. Finally, the previous shipping company shall surrender allowances corresponding to the emissions from the transferred ship for the duration it was in their fleet the previous reporting period. For more information on content and deadlines, please see the respective steps in this guide.
The new shipping company must inform the administering authority without delay when there is a change of shipping company assuming the EU ETS responsibility for one or multiple ships.
The new shipping company shall also update the monitoring plan for the ship(s), notify an accredited verifier and finally submit it to the administering authority responsible without due delay. More information on monitoring plan modification is provided in the next step.
If the shipping company is an ISM Company a document that clearly states the existence of an agreement according to which the ISM Company is mandated by the registered owner to comply with the EU ETS and MRV obligations, shall be submitted alongside the monitoring plan in THETIS-MRV.
If the new shipping company is responsible for the ship(s) at the end of a reporting period, it shall report the emissions from the new ship(s) for the entire reporting period.
Note that this does not mean that the new company is obliged to surrender allowances for emissions for the period the ship(s) were not under its responsibility.
When submitting the aggregated emissions report at company level for the previous reporting period, the emissions from the new ship(s) after transferring to the new shipping company must be included. Finally, the new shipping company shall surrender allowances corresponding to the emissions from the transferred ship(s) for the period it was in their fleet during the previous reporting period.
In terms of maritime operator holding account obligations, the national administrator must be informed of any update in the ship(s) the company assumes EU ETS responsibility for, by the following deadlines:
- For ISM companies, the national administrator must be informed within 10 working days of the change.
- For registered owners (ship owners), the national administrator must be informed within 20 working days of the change.
This follows from Regulation (EU) 2019/1122.