EU ETS for shipping in 2026
Since 2024, shipping companies have to cover the emissions of their ships on voyages to, from and between EU and EEA ports with EU allowances (EUAs), one allowance per tonne of CO₂ equivalent. 2026 is the first year without a discount: all of the emissions in scope count, and methane and nitrous oxide count too.
Rules as checked on 2026-10-19. Each rule names its article.
What counts in 2026
- Share of emissions: allowances for 100% of the verified 2026 emissions in scope (70% for 2025, surrendered by 30 September 2026). Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 3gb
- Gases: CO₂, and from 2026 also methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), converted to CO₂ equivalent with global warming potentials of 28 for CH₄ and 265 for N₂O. Directive 2003/87/EC Annex I; Regulation (EU) 2015/757 Annex I; Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1044 Annex
- Voyages: 100% of emissions on voyages between two EU/EEA ports of call, 50% on voyages between an EU/EEA port of call and one outside, and 100% of emissions while at berth in an EU/EEA port of call. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 3ga(1)
- Ports of call: a stop only to refuel, take supplies, repair or shelter does not end a voyage, nor does a stop only to change crew (except for offshore ships, whose crew-change stops do count), nor does a container ship's call at one of the neighbouring container transhipment ports outside the EU on the Commission's list. Emissions are then counted for the voyage the stop interrupts. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 3(z); Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2297
The emissions are the ones monitored, reported and verified under EU MRV, worked out from the fuel burnt and the emission factors in its Annex I. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 3gd, 3ge; Regulation (EU) 2015/757 Annex I
Which ships, and who pays
- Ships of 5,000 GT and above that carry cargo or passengers for commercial purposes. Directive 2003/87/EC Annex I; Regulation (EU) 2015/757 Art. 2(1)
- Offshore ships of 5,000 GT and above: monitored and reported under EU MRV since 2025, allowances for their emissions from 2027. Regulation (EU) 2015/757 Art. 2(1b); Directive 2003/87/EC Annex I
- General cargo and offshore ships from 400 GT up to 5,000 GT: they report under EU MRV since 2025 but surrender no allowances. Regulation (EU) 2015/757 Art. 2(1a); Directive 2003/87/EC Annex I
- The shipping company surrenders the allowances: the shipowner, or the manager or bareboat charterer that has taken over the operation of the ship together with the duties of the ISM Code. Each company is administered by one Member State. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 3(w), Art. 3gf
Example: a typical container ship
The container ship of the calculators' "typical ship" presets: the median container ship in the EU MRV data (EU MRV public data 2025 (THETIS-MRV, version 62, full-year reports)), counting only fuel in EU scope. It burns 930 t of HFO on voyages between EU/EEA ports, 4,160 t on voyages to or from them and 170 t of MDO/MGO at berth, the same every year. Default emission factors; no ice class.
| Year | Gases | t CO₂e in scope | Share | EUAs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | CO₂ | 9,918 | 40% | 3,967 |
| 2025 | CO₂ | 9,918 | 70% | 6,943 |
| 2026 | CO₂, CH₄, N₂O | 10,074 | 100% | 10,074 |
- At €86.56 per allowance (2026-10-08, a snapshot, not a forecast) the 2026 allowances cost about €872,031.
- Methane and nitrous oxide add 1.6% to this ship's CO₂ equivalent from 2026. For fuel oil the effect is small; for LNG engines with methane slip it is large (see the LNG question in the EU ETS calculator FAQ).
- Work out your own ship with the EU ETS calculator (it has the same preset), or a single voyage from its list of route pages. For several ships or years, the EU ETS Excel models do the same calculation per voyage.
Reductions and exemptions
- Ice class IA or IA Super (or equivalent): 5% fewer allowances for emissions until 31 December 2030. The example ship with ice class would surrender 9,571 instead of 10,074 for 2026. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 12(3-e)
- Outermost regions: no allowances until 31 December 2030 for voyages between a port in an outermost region and a port of the same Member State, and for the port stays of those voyages. The emissions are still monitored and reported. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 12(3-b)
- Small islands and public service contracts, only where the Commission grants the request of the Member States concerned, until 31 December 2030: voyages by passenger ships (not cruise ships) and ro-pax ships between a small island with no road or rail link to the mainland and a port of the same Member State (the article sets a population limit for the island); and voyages by passenger and ro-pax ships under a transnational public service contract or obligation between a Member State with no land border to another Member State and its closest neighbour, on a joint request of both. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 12(3-c), (3-d)
Deadlines for 2026 emissions
- 31 March 2027 · Company: Submit the verified emissions report of each ship for the previous year to the administering authority, the flag State (EU flags) and the Commission. Regulation (EU) 2015/757 Art. 11(1)
- 31 March 2027 · Company: Submit the verified aggregated emissions data at company level, the figure the EU ETS surrender is based on. Regulation (EU) 2015/757 Art. 11a(2)
- 30 September 2027 · Company: Surrender EU allowances for the previous year’s verified emissions in the Union Registry. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 12(3)
All yearly dates, with FuelEU and the IMO, are in the shipping compliance calendar.
Penalties
- €100 for each tonne of CO₂ equivalent not covered by allowances on time, raised in line with the European index of consumer prices. Paying it does not cancel the debt: the missing allowances are surrendered the following year. Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 16(3), (3a), (4)
- Member States publish the names of companies that did not surrender enough. Art. 16(2)
- After 2 or more consecutive periods without surrendering, and where other enforcement has failed, the Member State of the port of entry can issue an expulsion order: every Member State except the flag State then refuses the company's ships entry to its ports, and an EU flag State detains such a ship found in its ports, until the allowances are surrendered. Art. 16(11a)
Proposed changes (not law)
On 17 July 2026 the Commission proposed changes to the EU ETS Directive (COM(2026) 616) and to the MRV and FuelEU Regulations (COM(2026) 620). They are proposals: nothing on this page or in the calculators follows them. On 2026-10-19 both were awaiting a vote in the European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI); they apply only once the European Parliament and the Council have adopted them and they are published in the Official Journal. As proposed:
- The ice-class, outermost-region, island and public-service reductions above would run until 31 December 2035 instead of 2030.
- From 2031, general cargo ships, ships performing or supporting offshore operations, and oil, chemical, gas and LNG tankers from 400 GT up to 5,000 GT would join the EU ETS. Small ro-pax and passenger ships would report under EU MRV only, with a Commission report on including them by the end of 2031.
- Ships performing or supporting offshore operations (seabed resources, offshore installations) would get their own scope rules, with the offshore worksite counting as a port of call.
- Up to 110 million allowances, until 2040, would be set aside to support ships using sustainable maritime fuels or zero-emission propulsion.
- One monitoring plan and one report per ship would serve both EU MRV / EU ETS and FuelEU.
Progress: 2026/0212(COD) and 2026/0210(COD) in the European Parliament's Legislative Observatory.
Related
- EU ETS calculator: allowances and cost for a year or a voyage
- EU ETS Excel models: free single-ship file and fleet budget model
- FuelEU Maritime: the first year, the other EU rule that prices ship fuel
- Shipping compliance calendar