Carbon & Costs
FuelEU Maritime
Assess the GHG intensity of energy used, rather than sulphur content or CO₂ mass alone.
General focus: commercial ships above 5,000 GT and covered port calls/voyages; verify exclusions separately.
Your action sequence at a glance
Scope/plan
Fuel/energy
Evidence/factors
Annual verification
MASTER • RESPONSIBLE OFFICER • COMPANY
Start with these 6 checks
- Verify ship, port and voyage scope.
- Check FuelEU plan, responsible company and verifier.
- Record fuel/energy events consistently with the plan.
- Preserve alternative-fuel evidence and factor basis.
- Reconcile port times, consumption and corrections with office.
- Track annual reporting/compliance documents and deadlines.
Educational checklist. Completion is not operational/compliance approval; use the relevant vessel permits/forms separately.
Documents to have available
Select a document card for guidance. Obtain vessel-specific documents from authorised company/ship systems. A reference link is not a document download.
FuelEU monitoring plan
Obtain the controlled vessel FuelEU monitoring plan and latest revision from company compliance staff.
Open topic references and guidance →BDN, fuel and energy records
Match fuel, BDN and energy records to the reported period and vessel.
Open topic references and guidance →Sustainability/GHG evidence
Retrieve fuel sustainability and GHG evidence from supplier/company files; do not assume unsupported attributes.
Open topic references and guidance →Verifier report and FuelEU compliance document
Obtain the period verifier report and vessel FuelEU compliance document from authorised compliance files.
Open topic references and guidance →Open rules and technical detail
1 · Different from ETS
FuelEU regulates well-to-wake energy GHG intensity and associated compliance. EU ETS concerns surrender of allowances against covered emissions. Buying EUAs does not automatically discharge FuelEU duties; 0.10% sulphur fuel alone is not FuelEU compliance.
Reference: European Commission — FuelEU Maritime ↗2 · Define port, voyage and year
Full application began 1 January 2025. The general intensity reduction is 2% for 2025 and 6% for 2030; these are not fuel-saving percentages for each voyage. Check port-of-call definition, energy scope, exemptions and current EEA implementation guidance.
Reference: European Commission — FuelEU Maritime ↗3 · Preserve the fuel evidence chain
Record fuel identity/quantity, consumption, energy and supported factors under the company FuelEU monitoring plan. Do not assume biofuel/alternative-fuel benefits without verified sustainability and GHG evidence. A BDN alone may not establish every lifecycle claim.
Reference: EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 ↗4 · Separate ship and office responsibilities
The ship supplies traceable data. Annual balance, banking/borrowing/pooling and verification follow company/verifier procedures. OPS duties depend on ship type, port and date; do not assign one blanket 2030 requirement to every bulk carrier.
Reference: European Commission — FuelEU Maritime ↗Scenarios and self-check
Onboard scenarios
EUAs surrendered: is FuelEU complete?
No. Check the separate system, calculations and documents.
Automatically treat a Norwegian port as an EU port?
Check current EEA implementation/delay announcements; do not assume the classification.
LEARNING CHECK
Think of your answer, then reveal the explanation
Is 2% a saving required on each voyage?
No. It is the relevant annual energy GHG-intensity target.
Is low-sulphur fuel automatically low lifecycle-GHG fuel?
No. SOx and well-to-wake GHG are different properties.
Self-assessment only; no exam result, personnel record or competence certificate is generated.
Open official sources
Open the official sources
European Commission — FuelEU Maritime
European Commission guidance / updates
Open source ↗EUR-LEX.EUROPA.EUEUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2023/1805
EU legal text; consult current consolidated text
Open source ↗EMSA.EUROPA.EUEMSA — Company and FuelEU training videos
EU agency practical training
Open source ↗Legal instruments, explanatory guidance and operational bulletins have different roles. Check later amendments and consolidated texts where needed. Access and external documents remain under the publisher’s control.
Learning diagram and scope notes
Rules and bulletins may change. Before operation or voyage, verify the latest official source and ship-specific applicability. This page is not permission, certification or a real-time risk notice.