Verband Deutscher Reeder
VDR
Der VDR vertritt die gemeinsamen wirtschafts- und sozialpolitischen Interessen der deutschen Reedereien auf der Ebene des Bundes und der Länder.
ID: 74850577610-03
Lobbying Activity
Response to Rules for the reporting of aggregated emissions data at shipping company level
7 Aug 2023
Feedback on the obligation of verification by the flag State or the recognised independent organisation of the Company Level emission reports. The administrative burden and requirements of the EU-MRV Regulation and the EU-ETS Directive must be as low as possible and at the same time as accurate as necessary. Processes that are duplicated should be avoided for reasons of efficiency and ease of measure. The basis of an accurate extension of the EU ETS to shipping is the reporting of fuel consumption and calculation of the resulting emissions according to the requirements of EU-MRV EU 2015/757. The EU-MRV Regulation EU2015/575 including the proposed amendments require that ship-specific emissions reports (full or partial emissions reports) are verified by an independent verifier. The comprehensive and costly verification process for shipping companies is carried out according to the criteria defined in Article 14, which address the completeness, consistency and reliability of the reported data. A repeated verification of already verified data, i.e., as foreseen with the company-level emissions report, which represents the sum of all ship-specific emissions reports (see Article 1 (d) of the proposed supplement), is from our perspective not targeted and unjustified. This process leads to an enormously high, avoidable administrative effort, generates avoidable costs, and leads to the same results as the verification process of the ship-specific emission reports carried out shortly before in the process. We are of the opinion that we should focus even more on the ship-specific verification of emission to be carried out on the basis of the strict criteria in Article 14, as this process leads to a sufficiently accurate data basis that ensures the implementation of the EU ETS in the shipping sector. From our perspective, the summation of the already verified ship-specific emission reports within the emission report at "company level" does not require repeated verification by an independent verifier, as the administering authority will review the verification and summation of the ship-specific emission reports in case of suspicion anyway. Nevertheless, the company-level emissions report should be the determining factor for EU-ETS compliance and the EUAs' compliance obligation.
Read full response7 Aug 2023
Feedback relates to ANNEX I Methods for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions, Chapter A. CALCULATION OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS (ARTICLE 9), Number 2. Default Emission Factor, Column 6 in context of LNG and gas engines. The slip resulting from the use of LNG in a gas engine ("tank-to-propeller") depends on the combustion principle of the engine, the gas quality and the operating conditions and, according to measurements by various engine manufacturers, is well below 1%. Due to the different engine processes and the effects of size on combustion, two-stroke and high-pressure gas engines offer methane slip near to zero and can thus should be reassessed and should be properly reflected within the default value table. The two-stroke DF high-pressure engines are used by more than 80% of the LNG driven vessel. The situation is different for two-stroke and low-pressure gas engines, which work according to the Otto principle. Here, methane slip would occur. At the manufacturer WinGD, a fuel-gas/oxygen mixture is fed into the cylinder at low pressure via gas inlet valves on the cylinder liner in the middle of the stroke. The lean fuel-gas/air premix is then ignited by pilot fuel. The methane that is not completely burnt by the combustion process is recycled via an iCER system, an "intelligent Control by Exhaust Recycling System", and fed back into the combustion process. In this way, methane slip can be reduced by 30-50% in this type of engine. MAN, another manufacturer of two-stroke engines, offers a similar EGR exhaust gas purification system. It can be assumed that this forward-looking technology will be further refined under the pressure of climate protection. Within the three largest shipping segments, on average about 80% of all ships are powered by slow-running two-stroke engines based on the diesel principle. Consequently, we suggest reassessing the default value for slippage within the default value table depending on the engine and combustion type.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation
3 Oct 2022
Der Verband Deutscher Reeder (VDR) und seine Mitgliedsunternehmen unterstützen grundsätzlich eine Verlängerung der europäischen Gruppenfreistellungsverordnung für Schifffahrtskonsortien (Linien-GVO) und erkennen die gesamtwirtschaftlichen Vorteile der Linien-GVO an.
Im Kontext der jüngsten Marktturbulenzen und in Erwartung einer effektiveren Anwendbarkeit der Linien-GVO in Zukunft setzt sich der VDR dafür ein, dass die Europäische Kommission durch die Veröffentlichung von Leitlinien bzw. eines Leitfadens Klarstellungen zur Linien-GVO vornimmt und die Anwendbarkeit der Linien-GVO vereinfacht, insbesondere für kleinere Schifffahrtsunternehmen, die nicht über eine eigene Rechtsabteilung verfügen. Die überwiegend kleinen und mittelständischen Unternehmen auf Seite der Tonnage-Anbieter stehen vor erheblichen Innovations- und Investitionsherausforderungen, um die Umstellung auf eine CO2-neutrale Handelsflotte umsetzen zu können. Zur Bewältigung dieser Herausforderungen sind insbesondere für die kleineren und mittleren Tonnage-Anbieter Kooperationen mit Wettbewerbern unerlässlich. Dazu aber benötigen die häufig nicht über eigene Rechtsabteilungen verfügenden Tonnage-Anbieter klare Leitlinien.
In diesem Kontext bietet es sich auch an, dass die Kommission sich mit der Tatsache auseinandersetzt, dass die vor- und nachgelagerten Märkte für die betroffenen Schifffahrtsunternehmen eine immer wichtigere Rolle einnehmen. Daher wäre auch eine Präzisierung von verbotenen Kooperationen – sowohl im Verhältnis der Schifffahrtsunternehmen zueinander als auch im Verhältnis zu den auf den vor- und nachgelagerten Märkten tätigen Unternehmen – in Form von Leitlinien hilfreich, um zu verhindern, dass es insofern zu weiteren negativen Auswirkungen kommt. So ließen sich möglicherweise entsprechende Ausführungen im Rahmen der gegenwärtigen Revision der Horizontal-Leitlinien noch mitberücksichtigen. Alternativ wären natürlich auch besondere Leitlinien für die Schifffahrt und die vor- und nachgelagerten Märkte - angesichts der überaus wichtigen Bedeutung für einen funktionierenden Handel - sehr zu begrüßen und würden – auch vor dem Hintergrund der im Rahmen der angestrebten möglichst raschen Dekarbonisierung erforderlichen erheblichen Investitionen – sehr hilfreich sein.
Für weitere Einzelheiten verweisen wir auf unsere beigefügte Stellungnahme zur Evaluierung der Gruppenfreistellungsverordnung für Seeschifffahrtsunternehmen, die auch in englischer Sprache verfügbar ist.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the Ship Recycling Regulation
14 Jun 2022
The VDR expressly supports the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) and the regulations and standards made with it, which in the opinion of the VDR are to create high standards for environmentally friendly and safe ship recycling worldwide.
The VDR believes that the EU SRR can be a useful tool in the transition period, pending the entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention, provided it is inclusive and also gives countries outside the EU a fair chance to have their ship recycling facilities listed on the EU list for
recognized recycling yards.
The VDR welcomes the efforts of the Commission and Member States to ensure safe and environmentally sound ship recycling practices and standards.
In order to achieve the goals of the EU SSR, the core requirement is the availability of sufficient ship recycling capacity that meets EU standards for safe and environmentally sound recycling.
Unfortunatly, it must be noted that the ship recycling capacities currently included in the EU List only cover a fraction of the capacity needed to recycle all end-of-life EU-flagged vessels worldwide and that substantial additional capacity located outside the EU is needed.
The VDR therefore welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a new regulation on shipments of waste, which was published in November 2021. If this scope will be maintained when preparing the legislative proposal on the Ship Recycling Regulation, it would allow any ship recycling facilities complying with the EU standards to be listed on the EU list, irrespectivly if located within an OECD country or not. Hence, this would not only have the positive effect that enough recycling capacity can be made availible to meet the afore mentioned aims of the EU SSR, but would also further encourage investments into health, quality and enviromental standards in recycling facilities located outside OECD countries. Such
investments and their positive impact on the development of social, safety and enviromental standards can also be derived from the Site Inspection Reports prepared for the EC by contracted external bodies.
Moreover, a longterm perspective to be included into the EU List for ship recycling facilities in especially South Asia would be of high importnace for some countries, were shipbraking facilities as employer, but also the valuable materials obtained from the ship recycling process are of decisive importance for the domestic economy.
Considering the above argumentation, VDR stronly supports to open the EU List for all recycling facilities worlwide meeting the EU standard. This would contribute globally to the reduction of adverse effects on human health and the environment caused by the recycling of ships and would further encourage ship recycling countries to ratify the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. Moreover, it would be a contribution to stablize the local economy in developing countries.
A general exclusion of facilities in non-OECD countries from being included in the EU list would not only lead to an extreme bottleneck in the recycling capacity for ships flying the EU flag, but would also, “in case of severe market distortions, mean that the SRR will become a
significant burden for EU flagging. This as such would diminish the attractiveness of EU flags and, over time, decrease the EU flagged fleet”.
Read full responseResponse to FuelEU Maritime
8 Nov 2021
Der VDR begrüßt die im Juli 2021 von der Europäischen Kommission mit dem „Fit for 55“ Gesetzespaket vorgelegten, ambitionierten Klimaschutzmaßnahmen, um Europa bis zum Jahr 2050 zum ersten klimaneutralen Kontinent der Welt zu machen. Damit die vorliegende Verordnung über die Nutzung erneuerbarer und kohlenstoffarmer Kraftstoffe im Seeverkehr (im Folgenden „FuelEU Maritime“) seine volle Wirkung für den Klimaschutz entfalten kann, sollten aus Sicht des VDR die folgenden Rahmenbedingungen erfüllt sein:
1. Im Rahmen von FuelEU Maritime ist eine gemeinsame Verantwortung des Kraftstofflieferanten und des Schiffes sachgerecht. Normative Vorgaben zur Verfügbarkeit, Bereitstellung und Qualitätssicherung der Kraftstoffe sollten im Verantwortungsbereich der Kraftstofflieferanten liegen. Dem Schiff hingegen würde die Verantwortung obliegen, in europäischen Häfen nur die Kraftstoffe zu bunkern, welche die Kohlenstoffintensitätsvorgaben des FuelEU Maritime Vorschlags erfüllen und deren Verfügbarkeit von den Kraftstofflieferanten sichergestellt werden kann.
2. In Bezug auf den geographischen Anwendungsbereich von FuelEU Maritime sollte über einen Zeitraum von mindestens fünf Jahren eine „phase-in“ Periode eingeführt werden, in welcher der Anwendungsbereich nur auf solchen Kraftstoff begrenzt bleibt, der innerhalb der EU für Schiffe zur Verfügung gestellt wird. So könnten sich bereits abzeichnende gravierende Umsetzungsprobleme in Bezug auf Nicht-EU Staaten vermieden und wertvolle Erfahrungen zu den Auswirkungen auf die Kraftstoffversorgung der Schiffe gesammelt werden. Auch den internationalen Diskussionen zur Einführung eines IMO-Kraftstoffstandards würde Raum gegeben.
3. Ein Risiko, dass ein europaweiter Kraftstoffstandard durch Ausweichmaßnahmen, wie etwa dem Bunkerstopp eines Schiffes in Nicht-EU-Staaten, umgangen werden könnte, ist aus Sicht des VDR als auch der NGO „Transport & Environment“ als äußerst gering bis nicht existent einzuschätzen.
4. Zur Ankurbelung der Nachfrage nach alternativen Kraftstoffen sollten die durch das EU-Emissionshandelssystem im Sektor Schifffahrt erzielten Einnahmen für die Energiewende des Schifffahrtssektors verwendet werden. Der VDR fordert daher nach wie vor im Rahmen des EU ETS die Errichtung eines F&E-Fonds.
5. Die Einführung eines zweiten MRV-Systems erhöht den bürokratischen Aufwand für Unternehmen erheblich. Für eventuelle Berichtspflichten sollte das bereits bestehende MRV-System (Verordnung (EU) 2015/757) für die Schifffahrt genutzt werden.
6. Die Ausnahme der Nutzungspflicht von Landstrom bei Nichtverfügbarkeit sollte dringend über 2034 hinaus verlängert werden. Eine präzise
Verantwortungszuordnung der Häfen für die Landinfrastruktur sollte in den Vorschlag für eine Verordnung über die Infrastruktur für alternative Kraftstoffe (AFIR) integriert werden, um Anreize für die Häfen zu schaffen und die Nutzung des Landstroms durch die Schiffe zu ermöglichen statt eine langsame oder fehlende Ladeinfrastruktur dem Schiff anzulasten.
7. Die Lebenszyklusanalyse (LZA) ist ein adäquates Instrument, um die „well-to-wake“ Emissionen individueller Kraftstoffe in der Schifffahrt vergleichbar zu machen sowie eine ganzheitliche Bewertung der Versorgungskette zu ermöglichen.
Ausführliche Informationen finden Sie im Anhang.
Read full responseResponse to Updating the EU Emissions Trading System
8 Nov 2021
If Europe wants to play a role in helping the shipping industry to make this propulsion revolution a reality, support needs to be given to shipping in overcoming the multiple hurdles to fully decarbonise. For a possible decision of Europe to integrate shipping in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) this means that specific conditions need to be met when structuring the underlying regulation of the ETS. Otherwise, such scheme will rather become a barrier than an opportunity for shipping on its path to full decarbonisation. To establish the ETS as one of the drivers for the shipping industries’ energy transformation and to support the fourth propulsion revolution towards a rapid decarbonisation of shipping, the European ETS must first and foremost be tailored to fit some fundamentals in shipping and meet a number of principles. Please find our detailed position in the attached document.
Read full responseResponse to Updating the EU Emissions Trading System
26 Nov 2020
The German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the revision of the EU Emission Trading System Directive of the European Commission. You will find our feedback on the roadmap on the revision of the EU ETS Directive regarding shipping in the attached document.
Read full responseMeeting with Alisa Tiganj (Cabinet of Commissioner Violeta Bulc)
14 Dec 2017 · info meeting
Response to Revision of the Shipping MRV Regulation
12 Jul 2017
The shipping industry is encouraged by the positive statements from the European Commission which acknowledge the significant progress made by IMO Member States towards addressing GHG emissions from international shipping. With the full support of the industry, IMO Member States have agreed inter alia to develop a comprehensive strategy for the further reduction of GHG emissions from shipping. Importantly, this will include an initial strategy, for adoption in 2018, which we are confident will include CO2 reduction objectives for the entire global sector consistent with the spirit of the Paris Agreement. This initial IMO strategy will then be further refined using data from the IMO CO2 data collection system, also adopted at MEPC 70 and completed with guidelines at MEPC 71, and which will provide data on the CO2 emissions of ships throughout the global fleet. As stated with Recital 34 of the EU MRV Regulation, the EU MRV system should serve as a model for the implementation of a global MRV system. A global MRV system is preferable as it could be regarded as more effective due to its broader scope. […] Where an agreement on a global MRV system is reached, the Commission should review the Union MRV system with a view to aligning it to the global MRV system. In this respect, our position implies the European Commission should ensure to the full extent the establishment of a single efficient and effective collection system serving the final goal of reducing CO2 emissions from international shipping in accordance with the Paris Agreement. The aim of a full alignment exercise of the EU MRV Regulation with the IMO Data DCS is to have global regulatory uniformity in order to minimize the additional burden in particular for small and medium-sized shipping companies and avoid any dual systems.
Such a full alignment would not only serve the purpose of creating an internationally unified reliable data base for ships CO2 emissions, it would also be in line with the better regulation agenda of the European Commission, which aims for targeted regulation in order to achieve its objectives and bring benefits at minimum cost to the European economy.
Read full responseMeeting with Silvia Bartolini (Cabinet of Vice-President Miguel Arias Cañete)
14 Feb 2016 · Climate action - transport
Meeting with Jos Delbeke (Director-General Climate Action)
15 Oct 2015 · C02 emissions in maritime transport + COP21
Meeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)
15 Oct 2015 · Exchange of views on maritime issues
Meeting with Matthias Ruete (Director-General Migration and Home Affairs)
14 Oct 2015 · Crisis in the Mediterranean; Refugees.
Meeting with Silvia Bartolini (Cabinet of Vice-President Miguel Arias Cañete)
22 Sept 2015 · CO2 emissions
Meeting with Pierre Schellekens (Cabinet of Vice-President Miguel Arias Cañete)
14 Jan 2015 · Shipping contribution to fight against climate change - IMO discussions - Emission trading
Meeting with Friedrich-Nikolaus von Peter (Cabinet of Commissioner Violeta Bulc)
13 Jan 2015 · Impact of EU regulation on shipping industry