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The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has launched a new online system for reporting CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

Named THETIS-MRV, the new monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system enables companies responsible for the operation of large ships using EU ports to report their CO2 emissions, as required by law from January 1, 2018, under the EU's MRV regulation.

The EMSA was tasked with developing a robust system for the monitoring and reporting of verified data on CO2 emissions, annual fuel consumption and other energy efficiency parameters by the European Commission's Directorate General for Climate Action. A four-year cooperation agreement between the two parties was signed in March 2016, mapping out the delivery of cost-efficient services based on the use of existing infrastructure and supporting arrangements, as well as proven concepts and expertise.

Extending the possibilities of the original THETIS information system, EMSA designed a purpose-built monitoring, reporting and verification system. The THETIS-MRV system enables companies to work together with accredited verifiers to prepare monitoring plans in a voluntary module and to release emission reports and documents of compliance to the European Commission and relevant flag state authorities using the mandatory module.

Using the information submitted, the European Commission will publish annual aggregated data per ship covering fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and average energy efficiency indicators, among others.

In order to maximize the impact of the regulation and minimize the administrative burden on shipping companies and operators, the rules apply only to ships above 5,000 gross tonnes (gt) which account for around 55 percent of ships calling at EU ports and yet represent around 90 percent of the total share of related emissions.

The THETIS-MRV web-based application hosted by EMSA can be found at: https://mrv.emsa.europa.eu

Timeline summary

The EU MRV regulation entered into force on July 1, 2015, and requires ship owners and operators to annually monitor, report and verify CO2 emissions for vessels larger than 5,000 gt calling at any EU or EFTA port.

By August 31, 2017, ship owners must submit to their verifier the CO2 Monitoring Plan of each ship in their fleet. Then, from January 2018 onwards, they will be required to monitor the emissions, fuel consumption and other parameters, which will have to be reported on an annual basis and verified.

The aggregated ship emission and efficiency data is to be published by the European Commission by June 30, 2019, and then every consecutive year thereafter.