---

Verifavia, a leading emissions verification company for the transport sector, has been tasked by five shipping companies with performing a pre-verification gap analysis against the European Commission's (EC) Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) rules. DFDS Seaways, Euronav Ship Management, NEDA Maritime Agency, Seaspan Ship Management and Synergy Maritime, have all appointed Verifavia to assess their organisations for MRV readiness.

MRV Regulation 2015/757 came into force on 1st July 2015 and is viewed as a first step towards cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from maritime transport in the European Union (EU). From 2018, it will require operators of ships exceeding 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) to monitor, report and submit their independently verified carbon emissions on all voyages to, from and between EU ports. The benefit of the pre-verification gap analysis is that, if carried out early, it can identify any compliance and system design issues, enabling correction by the shipping company in a timely manner.

Julien Dufour, CEO, of Verifavia, commented: "As an experienced verification company, we understand that MRV is new to the shipping industry, which is why we are committed to sharing information and partnering with ship owners, operators and managers to help them navigate MRV compliance efficiently and effectively. At present, we are providing pre-verification gap analysis to support shipping companies in becoming MRV ready."

As part of the audit, Verifavia Shipping assesses the existing data accounting procedures and systems against the requirements of the Shipping MRV Regulation to identify any potential issues and non-compliance. Verifavia Shipping also reviews each company's voyages, fuel and cargo data collection, and transmission and transformation procedures, and performs preliminary analysis of carbon emissions and activity data. The shipping company's operational documentation is also reviewed to determine if it contains sufficient details for the implementation of the allowed fuel consumption monitoring methods.

Panos Deligiannis, Technical Manager, NEDA Maritime Agency, explained: "The EU's MRV regulation is now in force and we believe that it is time for the industry to accept that and take proactive measures to understand how we meet the requirements. With Verifavia Shipping, we have engaged with an experienced, independent verifier who is able to accurately identify any gaps in our ability to achieve compliance as we proactively analyse our process and procedures ahead of time. We have learnt a great deal through the process and have every confidence in their integrity and expertise."

Poul Woodall, Director, Environment and Sustainability, DFDS Seaways, remarked: "MRV regulation is new and therefore unfamiliar, so we are grateful to Verifavia Shipping for conducting our compliance review. This has been based on interviews, document review, observation of systems and processes, and corroboration of information. The process has required very little investment of our time and resource, but now provides us with the reassurance that we are on track to meet MRV compliance."

The company was recently invited to join the European Commission's Shipping MRV subgroup of experts on verification and accreditation. The objectives of the subgroup are to discuss key technical details regarding verification and accreditation of verifiers, and to feed into the Commission's work for the preparation of the delegated and implementing acts pursuant to the Regulation 2015/757.

The accreditation process is not yet open to potential verifiers of maritime transport. Verifavia has been accredited for the aviation sector since 2010 and says that it will apply to the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) - the UK's national body for the accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories, certification and inspection bodies - for extended accreditation as soon as the process has been finalised.

"In the meantime, Verifavia Shipping is performing pre-verification gap analysis audits as well as independent carbon emissions verification for shipping companies for trial purposes and on an informal basis," the company added.