ECSA gives cautious welcome to 2018 MRV in EU

ECSA says that the agreement paves the way for a European MRV system that will become operational as of 2018, applying to ships above 5,000gt arriving and departing from EU ports, regardless of their flag and ownership, and the association adds that this should be a stepping stone towards a global MRV instrument, which is currently being discussed at IMO.

Apart from data on CO2 emissions and distance sailed, the negotiators agreed that the EU regulation will require ships to report cargo-related information.

“Whilst the inclusion of cargo-related information allows the measurement of energy efficiency of vessels, there are concerns regarding data reliability and confidentiality as well as reporting responsibilities and obligations”, said ECSA secretary general Patrick Verhoeven. “This explains why IMO approaches the issue with great care.

“As ECSA we would have preferred the inclusion of cargo-related data to have simply been postponed until an agreement was reached at IMO. We do however acknowledge that the negotiators took some of our concerns into account and have strengthened provisions on international alignment. We will carefully assess these changes as soon as the full text of the agreement becomes available. We believe it is essential that industry is closely involved in any further steps, for instance on defining the metrics of cargo data.”

Mr Verhoeven concluded: “Most importantly, we call upon the European Commission to actively engage in a confidence-building exercise with non-European Member States at IMO, to ensure that the common objective of establishing an international MRV instrument will be achieved.”

The agreement on the EU MRV Regulation still needs formal endorsement from the European Parliament and Council of Ministers. ECSA believes that this process will not entail further changes to the specifics of the agreement and it is expected to be finalised by January 2015.