Ships calling at EU ports may have to pay millions more euros in carbon fees, as Brussels plans to close a loophole that lets vessels cut their emissions bill by making stopovers just outside the bloc.
Vessels sailing to the EU from outside the bloc must buy carbon allowances covering half their emissions for the journey. But officials are concerned that ships from far-flung ports are cutting bills without reducing emissions by stopping at ports near EU member countries, and then counting only the shorter final leg into the bloc.
Brussels plans to tighten the rules by including traffic to North African, Middle Eastern and potentially UK ports in its emissions trading system. The rules currently bring in about €7bn-€9bn each year, according to ECSA, the European shipowners’ association […]
[…] “A vessel is paying roughly €300,000 per call so what liners decided to do is not to come directly to the European port but to stop at the nearby non-EU ports to benefit from the 50 per cent ETS rules,” said Alberto Rossi, secretary-general of the Italian shipowners’ association Assarmatori.
Another issue was vessels bringing non-EU goods to EU ports for transshipment — where they are moved to different ships before being taken on to their final destination outside the bloc.
Rossi said that transshipment services were also moving to north Africa to evade ETS costs, impacting jobs and potentially giving EU countries less control over their supply chains.
