Transitioning into EU MRV
Wilhelmsen insights
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Joseph Chum, Manager, Business Process and Systems, Wilhelmsen Ship Management
The EU MRV regulation entered into force on 1 July 2015 as part of the European Commission (EC)’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping within the European Union (EU).
The EU MRV, short for monitoring, reporting and verification, is a requirement for ship owners and operators to annually monitor, report and verify CO2 emissions.
While data collection will begin on 1 January 2018, the preparation for compliance have commenced for many before that. Having a verified monitoring plan is the first milestone for this regulation. At WSM, we foresee the biggest challenge to remain compliant is ensuring data integrity throughout the data collection period.
Preparation work began in 2015 when the regulation entered into force. Our first move was to access the existing company procedures and conduct a gap analysis to meet EU MRV requirements.
Some major milestones that we have done to address the identified gaps are:
DATA INTEGRITY IS OUR FOCUS
It is our highest priority to ensure accuracy, enforceability and transparency in the verification process and making the EU MRV reporting (monitoring process) work as planned.
During submission of the emissions report, accredited verifiers will verify two main components:
- Annual ship-specific emission report matches the monitoring plan
- Accuracy of figures and calculation in annual reporting
To achieve the above, we identified two key contributors:
IT SystemsHaving the right IT systems in place, plays a crucial role to perform the functions required for EU MRV compliance. Recognizing this, we implemented the first draft of EU-MRV requirements into our in-house IT application onboard and business intelligence tool. |
PeopleProcedures, trainings and data integrity awareness have been established to ensure the organization (on shore and at sea) are moving together in one direction.
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| Starting early is crucial as it allows us to have sufficient time for data validation phase. We have implemented validation rules and are continuously fine-tuning to achieve the ideal system. |
Having an early start allows us to make gradual transitions to the existing noon report processes and communicating it to the stakeholders. It is our highest priority that the changes are well adapted into the current environment. |
Our MRV reporting process
Snippet of MRV Reporting from our business intelligence tool
Moving ahead
Moving ahead, regulators/verifiers may establish its own digital reporting platform that allows direct submissions of emissions report. We have evaluated the electronic version of the emissions report template and we are confident that our existing digital platform can meet the requirements.
Currently, we are implementing the requirements of IMO Data collection system (IMO DCS) into our systems. The data collection for IMO DCS will begin on 1 January 2019, but we are starting early like how a shaper of the maritime industry should be.
**At the point of this publication, WSM have completed drafting the monitoring plan and submitted the plan to class for verification.