Jesper Sørensen is global head of alternative fuels and carbon markets at KPI OceanConnect. Image Credit: KPI OceanConnect

Some shipping companies may be holding back from engaging fully with the FuelEU Maritime regulation on the hope that its implementation may somehow be delayed or weakened, according to global bunker firm KPI OceanConnect.

FuelEU Maritime came into effect in January 2025, setting carbon intensity thresholds for ships on voyages involving EU ports. The first deadline for finalising pooling arrangements for the 2025 reporting year passed on April 30, and the deadline for paying penalties is coming up on June 30.

The regulation allows for the pooling of ships, with overcompliant ships effectively selling their excess GHG reductions to undercompliant ones. 

Pooling to cover excess emissions can currently be arranged for about $17.50 per mt of VLSFO consumed on an intra-EU voyage, while paying the penalties would cost more than twice as much. 

The logic for paying the penalties is not clear, but some shipping firms are still doing so, Jesper Sørensen, global head of alternative fuels and carbon markets at KPI OceanConnect, told Ship & Bunker.

"I’ve had the opportunity to speak to quite a few owners and operators, and the answer is yes, there are people who are paying the penalties," he said.

There are several reasons for this failure to find the cheapest way to engage with the regulation, he argued.

"I don’t think anyone is absent-minded, but there has perhaps been a hope that things would be addressed and there would be a delay in this," Sørensen said.

"But it’s also a result of a lack of manpower, because if you’re not a big shipping company like the container lines or the big tanker operators or car carriers for that matter, then you may not have dedicated people to look into this.

"It is a complex regulation, it requires a lot of deep diving. I’ve been in meetings with an oil major who, back in March, still didn’t know what their compliance obligations were.”

From KPI OceanConnect's point of view, any hope of a substantial change in the regulations in the short term is likely to be misplaced.

"I think EU-ETS and the implementation of that shows that the EU will implement FuelEU Maritime in full," Sørensen said.

"There might be a little bit of flexibility to sort out the final paperwork in the first compliance year. If you submit, let’s say, a pooling agreement slightly later, it might be accepted.

"I can’t answer that for the EU, but I don’t think that they will forgo, or say, ‘OK, you didn’t do it this time, that’s ok’.

"It would send the wrong signal to those who actually comply.”