Hapag-Lloyd has informed its customers that the existing EU ETS surcharges are expected to “roughly double” starting January 1st, as the scope of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) expands. The company explained that this increase will be driven by the higher emissions costs resulting from the EU ETS’ expansion, as well as the added costs for fuel bunkering in compliance with the new FuelEU Maritime regulations.
Under the current phase-in of the EU ETS, carriers are responsible for covering 40% of their vessel emissions. However, starting on January 1st, this responsibility will increase to 70%. Shipping companies will be required to purchase carbon credits (EU Allowances, or EUAs) based on their emissions for voyages that either start or end at EU ports. The cost of these credits fluctuates according to market prices.
A key change involves the monitoring of emissions on voyages between EU ports—currently at 50% for journeys starting or ending in the EU. This contrasts with 100% emissions monitoring for voyages entirely within the EU. In response to the EU ETS changes, Hapag-Lloyd announced a modification to its China-Germany Express service (CGX), effective January 3. The service will now make its first port call in non-EU Southampton, instead of Antwerp. This change allows the carrier to reduce the emissions covered under the EU ETS, as the Southampton-to-Rotterdam leg will be considered outside of the EU ETS scope, cutting the emissions that need to be accounted for compared to the original port of call in Tema, Ghana.
Friederike Hesse, co-founder and managing director of maritime carbon solutions platform zero44, explained that this change allows Hapag-Lloyd to lower transport costs, making the service more competitive. However, she cautioned that if this routing is solely to avoid EU ETS costs, it could provoke a political response, with the EU potentially revisiting the list of transshipment ports that do not count under the EU ETS.
The EU currently designates two such ports—East Port Said in Egypt and Tangier Med in Morocco—both within 300 nautical miles of EU ports, effectively exempting them from the ETS coverage. However, as more carriers potentially adopt this strategy to minimize emissions costs, there are concerns that it could lead to delays, congestion, and higher logistical costs. Albrecht Grell, MD of Hamburg-based maritime technology firm Oceanscore, noted that while this approach might reduce emissions costs in the short term, the additional costs and inefficiencies associated with routing changes would likely limit its widespread use.
A spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd clarified that the savings from the reduced EU ETS share would be passed on to customers, though the company would apply an average surcharge across transport legs to ensure fairness and avoid discrimination based on specific service allocations. Additionally, the carrier will recover ETS costs through a single transparent surcharge, which will also incorporate the upcoming Fue EU Maritime regulations, effective January 1.
