Page 171 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΟΚΤΩΒΡΙΟΣ 2024

❶ After being involved in the EU carbon they will need to surrender each year. However,
market for over six months, how do you the obligation to track emissions has existed for
see shipping companies adapting to it? several years now, so many ship operators are
It is a very mixed picture so far, with significant familiar with the requirements. A further chal-
differences in how companies are responding, lenge is understanding who needs to actually buy
particularly with regard to their size. Larger com- the allowances because shipping contracts were
panies with bigger fleets are being much more pro- not necessarily geared up to cover EU ETS costs.
active compared with the smaller operators. Some So, in most cases, changes are required to those
of them bought ahead of need and are suffering contracts to establish explicit financial liabilities
from the current price softness. However, most for operators.
companies are sensibly buying carbon allowances
in frequent purchases and relatively small volumes ❸ How can shipping companies manage
on a charter/voyage basis. their carbon risk?
Risk management is not about picking the top or
❷ What are the key challenges that bottom of the market; it is about understanding
shipping companies are facing at the the exposure and making a plan to manage that
moment? exposure efficiently and stay within the rules. The
To some degree, it depends on the type of shipping first step in defining a compliance strategy is to
company. For example, ferry operators are facing a fully understand all the parameters and options.
somewhat easier task, as their routes are well-es- These will vary greatly from company to company.
tablished and do not change often. For shipping For 2024, only 40% of a shipping company’s reg-
companies, it is more challenging as the routes ulated emissions need to be covered by the sur-
and ports of call vary, and this makes it harder to render of allowances under a phased-in approach
assess what their carbon exposure will be each agreed in the legislation. While this means compa-
year. However, in general, decarbonisation in the nies are not yet fully exposed to their total emis-
shipping sector is challenging for all companies sions costs, it is still essential to get familiar with
that use conventional fuel oil. It is difficult and the rules and processes so that when exposure
expensive to replace Heavy Fuel Oil with cleaner ramps up, operators are not behind the curve.
fuels.
Tracking emissions has been a further challenge, ❹ What do shipping companies need to do
and shipping companies need to get to grips with to comply with the EU ETS?
software systems that help them track their emis- First of all, companies need to comply with the
sions and calculate how many carbon allowances EU’s MRV regulations, which means arranging for

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