Opening maritime operator holding accounts in the Union Registry

ATTN:   ALL FULL MEMBERS

Dear Members,

the Commission adopted the delegated act on the functioning of the Union Registry on 25 October containing information for Opening maritime operator holding accounts in the Union Registry

The final draft  text can be found here  and is also attached.

Members may note the following articles:

• ’Article 15a Opening maritime operator holding accounts in the Union Registry
• Article 15b Opening regulated entity holding accounts in the Union Registry
• ‘Article 26a Closure of maritime operator holding accounts.

A brief summary here below aims providing a breakdown of the shipping related issues included in the delegated act and annexes, prepared with the assistance of our Associate member VERTIS:

Summary

1. The Marine Operator Holding Account, which is used for complying with the surrender of EU Allowances (EUAs), must essentially be opened by an EU-based entity in the country where either the Shipowners or the Document Entity Holder is registered.

2. If the compliant entity is not an EU-based entity, before February 1, 2024, the European Commission will publish a list of Shipping companies included in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) along with the current available data. This list will specify the registry where the holding account should be opened.

3. Shipping companies may not be able to initiate the procedure of opening their holding account until the publication of the aforementioned list.

4. Once the list is released, Shipping companies will have 40 working days to gather all the necessary documentation for opening their Holding Account.

5. Upon submission of the required documentation to the Union Registry, the national administrator must open a maritime operator holding account within 20 working days or notify the prospective account holder if the account cannot be opened

6. Each shipping company is limited to a single maritime operator holding account.

7. If a company is not included in the initial list published early the following year, upon completing their first voyage under the EU ETS scheme, they will have 65 working days to submit all required documentation to the relevant national administrator. They must then request the national administrator to open a maritime operator holding account in the Union Registry.

Members may also note the below information that may be useful and are  included in the ANNEXES of the delegated act also attached:

8. Information to be provided for opening a maritime operator holding account are included in ‘ANNEX VIIa (page 6)

9. Emissions data for shipping companies shall contain the information set out in Table IX-Ia, in ANNEX VI (page 16)

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Hoping that the above clarifies the situation please feel free to revert with any additional clarifications you may have.

Kind regards

Emmanuel Vergetis

Regional Representative

Athens- Greece