EU ETS

How the EU Emissions Trading System applies to shipping, and how the platform tracks coverage and cost.

What it is

EU ETS (Emissions Trading System) puts a price on carbon. From 2024 it covers maritime CO₂ on voyages touching EU/EEA ports. Each tonne of covered CO₂ requires the surrender of one EUA (EU Allowance), purchased at market rate.

Who it applies to

Cargo and passenger ships 5,000 GT and above calling at EU/EEA ports — under Directive 2003/87/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2023/959.

Two factors determine your bill

1. Voyage coverage by leg type

Each voyage leg is classified by its endpoints:

Leg type	Departure	Arrival	Coverage
INTRA_EU	EU/EEA port	EU/EEA port	100%
INTO_EU	Non-EU port	EU/EEA port	50%
OUT_OF_EU	EU/EEA port	Non-EU port	50%
NON_EU	Non-EU port	Non-EU port	0%

Time spent at port is also classified per-record: emissions at an EU port are 100% covered; emissions at a non-EU port are 0% covered — even within the same voyage.

2. Phase-in factor by year

Maritime ETS is phased in over three years:

Year	Phase-in
2024	40%
2025	70%
2026 onwards	100%

So your final ETS exposure is:

ETS Emissions = Σ (Leg CO₂ × Coverage Factor) × Phase-In Factor
ETS Cost      = ETS Emissions × EUA Price

The default EUA price is configurable via the DEFAULT_EUA_PRICE environment variable (defaults to €75/tonne).

What the platform calculates

For every voyage, the platform:

1. Walks the consumption log chronologically
2. Detects each BOSP (Beginning of Sea Passage) event as a leg boundary
3. Splits each record into sea CO₂ vs. port CO₂ vs. EU-port CO₂ vs. non-EU-port CO₂
4. Applies the leg’s coverage factor to sea CO₂; applies 100% / 0% per-record to port CO₂
5. Sums covered CO₂ across all legs and multiplies by the year’s phase-in factor

This per-leg approach is more accurate than treating the whole voyage as one classification — a Rotterdam → Hamburg → Le Havre → Singapore voyage produces three intra-EU legs (100%) and one out-of-EU leg (50%), not one blended figure.

What you see in the product

EU ETS dashboard — phase-in banner, voyage classification, and leg-level coverage.

• Fleet view: Phase-in banner highlighting the current year, voyage-type breakdown, and total cost projection
• Vessel view: Expandable voyages table showing each leg’s coverage factor and covered CO₂
• Reports: Downloadable EU ETS report for verifier submission

Reference

Primary regulations

• Directive 2003/87/EC (consolidated) — EU ETS directive including maritime provisions
• Directive (EU) 2023/959 — Amendment that brought maritime into EU ETS
• Regulation (EU) 2015/757 (consolidated) — EU MRV (the data feed for ETS)

Industry guides

• DNV — EU ETS Maritime
• CE Delft — FuelEU Maritime and EU ETS Report
• Sustainable Ships — EU ETS Maritime Guide

Carbon market data

• ICAP ETS Map — global ETS overview
• Ember Carbon Price Tracker — live EUA price

In this documentation

• Methodology: EU ETS coverage formulas