FuelEU Maritime

FuelEU Maritime is Regulation (EU) 2023/1805, an EU regulation that imposes an escalating greenhouse-gas-intensity (GHG-intensity) reduction requirement on the energy used by ships calling at European Union ports. It entered into force on 12 October 2023 and the principal compliance obligation began applying on 1 January 2025. The regulation applies directly in all Member States without transposition into national law.

GHG-intensity trajectory

The regulation sets a percentage reduction in the average GHG intensity (gCO2e/MJ) of the energy used by ships calling at EU ports, relative to a 2020 baseline of 91.16 gCO2e/MJ:

• 2025: −2%
• 2030: −6%
• 2035: −14.5%
• 2040: −31%
• 2045: −62%
• 2050: −80%

The trajectory creates a structural demand for low-CI fuels in the maritime sector, including renewable diesel, biodiesel from sustainable feedstocks, e-methanol, e-ammonia, hydrogen, and on-board electricity from shore power for berth periods.

Scope

The regulation covers commercial ships above 5,000 gross tons calling at EU ports. It includes:

• 100% of energy used during voyages between EU ports
• 50% of energy used during voyages between EU and non-EU ports
• 100% of energy used during berth at EU ports

The 50% rule on extra-EU voyages is designed to avoid the extraterritorial-application objections that would arise from counting full energy use of voyages that spend most of their distance outside EU jurisdictional waters.

RFNBO sub-target

Starting in 2030, FuelEU Maritime requires that at least 2% of the energy used by ships calling at EU ports come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) — primarily renewable hydrogen, e- ammonia, and e-methanol made from renewable electricity and either captured CO2 or atmospheric nitrogen. The sub-target is one of the most analyzed elements of the regulation, given the limited current RFNBO production capacity.

Compliance accounting

The regulation introduces a fuel-pool compliance approach: each shipping company computes its annual GHG-intensity score across all fuel used at EU ports and on covered voyages. Companies that perform better than the year's target generate a "compliance surplus" that can be banked or traded to other companies. Companies that miss the target accrue a penalty under Article 23, calibrated against the shortfall.

Pooling and over-compliance

A distinctive feature of FuelEU Maritime is the pooling provision: shipping companies may pool their compliance across multiple companies, allowing over-compliance from one fleet to offset under-compliance from another. The pooling mechanism is set out in Article 21 and is intended to make compliance economical for smaller operators.

Linkage to EU ETS

FuelEU Maritime operates alongside the extension of the EU ETS to maritime emissions, which began on 1 January 2024 under the 2023 revision of Directive 2003/87/EC. The two systems work in tandem: EU ETS prices the carbon emissions; FuelEU Maritime mandates the GHG-intensity reduction. The same physical fuel pool participates in both regimes.

Historical context

FuelEU Maritime was proposed by the European Commission in July 2021 as part of the "Fit for 55" climate package and adopted by the European Parliament and Council in September 2023. The IMO's parallel 2023 GHG Strategy and 2025 mid-term measures will eventually create a global framework for marine GHG abatement; FuelEU Maritime sits as the EU regional layer ahead of full IMO implementation.

Practical implications for fuel suppliers

The regulation's GHG-intensity calibration uses a well-to-wake lifecycle accounting comparable to the RED III well-to-wheels framework but extended to the marine combustion endpoint. Fuel suppliers selling marine fuel into EU ports compute the supplied fuel's well-to-wake intensity using emission factors set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2027 and the supporting Annexes. Bunker suppliers report fuel sales to a Union database that feeds each shipping company's GHG-intensity tally. The regulation explicitly recognises biofuels meeting RED III sustainability criteria, RFNBOs as defined in Article 27 of RED III, and recycled carbon fuels under specific conditions.

Sources

Regulation (EU) 2023/1805 (FuelEU Maritime, OJ L 234, 22.9.2023). Directive 2003/87/EC (EU ETS, as revised in 2023 to include maritime). Directive (EU) 2023/2413 (RED III, RFNBO definition). IMO 2023 GHG Strategy as adopted at MEPC 80. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2027 on emission-factor methodology.