WSC, no to the transfer of EU ETS costs to ship operators only

The amended text provides that "the person or the organisation responsible for compliance with the EU ETS should be the shipping company, defined as the shipowner, or any other organisation or person, such as the manager or the bareboat charterer, who took responsibility the operation of the ship by the shipowner and who, assuming such responsibility, agreed to assume all duties and responsibilities imposed by the International Management Code the safety of ships and the prevention of pollution. This definition is based on the definition of "company" referred to in point (d) of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2015/757, and in line with the global data collection system set up by the IMO in 2016. However, the shipping company is not always responsible for the purchase of fuel or the adoption of operational decisions affecting greenhouse gas emissions of the ship. These responsibilities may be assumed by an entity other than the shipping company based on a contractual agreement. In this case, in order to ensure full compliance with the polluter pays principle and encourage the adoption of efficiency measures and more fuels clean, a clause should be included in such agreements binding in order to transfer costs so that the entity who is ultimately responsible for the decisions that affect the ship's greenhouse gas emissions is deemed to be responsible for covering the compliance costs paid by the shipping company within the meaning of this Directive. That entity should normally be the entity responsible for the selection and purchase of the fuel used from the vessel, or the operation of the vessel, as regards, to example, the choice of cargo transported, or the route and speed of the ship".

According to the WSC, the position of the European Parliament on the entity responsible "presents a loophole that safeguards the shipowners through a mandatory contractual transfer of costs to operators, delaying innovation». For the World Shipping Council, on the other hand, "the payment of compliance costs to the EU ETS should be determined by the same parties contractors'. According to the association, "negotiation of the shared challenge of decarbonization can be best made without contractual terms imposed by the legislation'.

"Rapid investments in ships and environmentally friendly fuels - he taken over the chairman and CEO of the WSC, John Butler - require the EU ETS to involve all parties: operators of ships, charterers and shipowners. Restrictive legislation and which includes mandatory transfers through clauses will distort the market and will delay progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions'. The WSC then urged to remove that contractual requirement binding in the context of the procedure of trilogue that will see the representatives of Parliament, Council and Commission of the EU.