EMEA News
UECC Safeguards Clients from FuelEU Surcharge Impact with Alternative Fuels
Norwegian ro-ro operator United European Car Carriers (UECC) says that by proactively adopting biofuel blends and bio-LNG in its fleet, the company has eliminated FuelEU Maritime compliance surcharge for its customers.
“Switching to low-carbon biofuels is generally seen as the most effective route to achieve compliance with progressively tighter carbon intensity reduction targets and thereby avoid penalties under FEUM [FuelEU Maritime],” UECC said in a post on LinkedIn.
While biofuel bunkering costs are approximately 50-100% higher than conventional marine fuels, UECC has stated that it does not intend to pass the FuelEU Maritime compliance cost burden onto its customers.
“UECC will change absolutely nothing about its pricing structure in relation to FEUM," Daniel Gent, energy and sustainability manager at UECC said in the post.
Gent explained that the company has achieved a significant reduction in carbon intensity by using biofuel blends across its 15-vessel fleet since 2020 and by adopting bio-LNG on five of its vehicle carriers as part of the "Sail for Change" sustainability initiative launched last year.
“Consequently, we are already running a compliance surplus in relation to FEUM with our current energy mix and this is expected to extend into the early 2030s,” he added.
FuelEU Maritime regulations came into effect on January 1 and apply for all ships over 5,000 gross tonnage calling at European ports. The initial target to reduce GHG intensity compared to the 2020 baseline has been set at a modest 2% by 2025, which will be tripled to 6% by 2030 and to 80% by 2050.
Some shipping companies have already started passing the additional costs for FuelEU Maritime compliance onto their customers.
“We have previously informed our customers that their support for our investment in multi-fuel LNG vessels would insulate them against regulatory penalties and this is exactly what is happening here,” Gent said.
