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As the inclusion of maritime emissions into the EU ETS will start in 2024, ocean shipping companies have started to issue guidance on the level of ETS surcharges which will likely be added to their freight rates.

For reference, shipping companies will have to buy and surrender ETS allowances for the emissions of their ships. 100% of emissions on intra-EU journeys will be taken into account, and 50% of emissions for journeys to/from an EU port to/from a third country. It will be implemented in phases, with 40% of a GHG emissions to be paid in September 2025, but covering the period from 1 January 2024. In 2026, carriers will pay for 70% of emissions generated in 2025 and, from 2027, carriers will have to pay for 100% of the emissions generated in 2026 and onwards.

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have both issued guidance on the expected cost increase, providing several surcharges rates according to the route and the type of container (normal or reefer). However, they differed wildly on the expected level of the additional costs: While Hapag-Lloyd estimated that a container shipped from Asia to North Europe would incur €12 per TEU in ETS surcharges and €31 for a reefer, Maersk advised that the same journey would cost customers an additional €70 per TEU and €105 per reefer.

This wide difference highlights the uncertainties of additional costs related to the introduction of ETS in maritime shipping: as noted by the ITF report on carbon pricing in shipping, many parameters should be taken into account to assess the final costs to customers, such as the price of ETS allowance (currently around €85 per tonne of CO2, likely to increase), operational decisions from carriers (slow steaming, rationalised journey planning) or even the likelihood of the extra costs being passed on to customers.

Finally, both carriers announced that customers using their green fuel programmes would be exempted from ETS surcharges, as it would reduce their overall GHG emissions.

Source: The Loadstar