OceanScore and RWE team up to mitigate emissions risk with EU ETS management solution for shipping

An integrated solution that enables ship operators both to manage emissions liabilities and trade carbon allowances under the impending EU ETS regime for shipping has been launched by maritime data firm OceanScore, according to the company's release.
 
The Hamburg-based firm has therefore developed the web-based ETS Manager to manage and monitor the entire process from automatically ingesting vessel operational data, assessing the need for EU Allowances (EUAs), allocating them to owners or stakeholders, requesting and accounting for them, and tracking open positions. It incorporates the advanced trading tool EUA Trader, powered by RWE Supply & Trading, to buy and sell EUAs.
 
OceanScore’s EUA Trader is also available as a standalone application. Furthermore, for those clients that wish to outsource management of their EUA accounts to their respective registries, OceanScore can support this by monitoring account movements through various APIs in ETS Manager.
 
Grell said the comprehensive solution, with a high level of automation to reduce administrative workload and possible issues with wrong data entries, is geared to “simplifying complexity” for shipping companies.
 
ETS Manager is rapidly gaining traction among both European and non-European customers ahead of the phased implementation of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for the maritime sector from 1 January 2024, with OceanScore investor Döhle Group among several pilot customers, he added.
 
Shipping companies, as the designated Document of Compliance holder (DoC holder) under the EU ETS regime, will be required to surrender to the authorities EUAs based on their annual emissions, starting at 40% of emissions in 2024 and rising to 70% and 100% of emissions in 2025 and 2026, respectively, under the three-year phase-in of the scheme.
 
This will necessitate having administrative systems in place to track emissions and determine the volume of EUAs required, as well as to assign the costs of these to the owner or charterer based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle to avoid unnecessary financial exposure for the DoC holder, typically a ship manager.
 
OceanScore’s co-Managing Director Ralf Garrn explained the regulation poses issues such as how to accurately monitor emissions, how to acquire and trade EUAs, which trading platform to use, how to achieve the best price, how many EUAs should be purchased and who should pay for carbon credits.
 
OceanScore is a Hamburg-based provider of sustainability data and compliance solutions with a strong maritime background. The company offers a range of ESG solutions tailored to the industry’s unique needs.