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Classification society the Korean Register (KR) has announced that it is now authorized by Germany's national accreditation body, Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkks), to act as a verification body for EU monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV).

EU MRV refers to regulation (EU) 2015/757 and covers the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from ships above 5,000 gross tonnage calling at any EU or EEA (Norway/Iceland) port.

The regulation requires shipping companies to submit their monitoring plan - including the ships' monitoring and reporting procedures - to the accredited verifier by August 31, 2017.

In addition, from January 1, 2018, in accordance with the approved monitoring plan, shipping companies will need to collect their ships' details annually, and submit the verified emission report to European Commission by April 30 of each year from 2019.

After submitting the verified emission report, the ships will need to carry on board a valid document of compliance issued by the accredited verifier by June 30 of the year following the end of a reporting period.

"By gaining this accreditation, KR can now provide prompt and effective services covering the assessment of the monitoring plan, the verification of the emission report and the issuance of document of compliance to the shipping companies. Furthermore, KR's EU MRV services can be delivered to any ship anywhere in the world regardless of its flag or class," KR said.

Lee Jeong-kie, chairman and CEO of KR, commented: "We are proud to have obtained this accreditation from DAkkS without any non-conformities, even though it was the first accreditation audit we have undertaken.

"The authorization was successfully gained thanks to our close collaboration with Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM). Working together, we have successfully met the criteria and look forward to providing this service to our customers.

"This latest accreditation clearly demonstrates KR's technical expertise. This, together with our extensive survey experience, will ensure that we continue to provide fair and prompt services to our clients, helping them to meet the requirements of the increasingly strict environmental regulations around the world."