On the 6th of June, an Implementing Regulation identifying “neighbouring container transhipment ports” under FuelEU Maritime. The text includes Tanger Med (Morocco) and East Port Said (Egypt) in the list of ports, meaning calls to these ports are excluded from the definition of “port of call” under FuelEU Maritime, thereby mirroring the ETS Directive.
FEPORT replied to the Call for Feedback regarding the draft Implementing Regulation in February this year and welcomed the text as it prevents shipping lines from avoiding FuelEU costs by adding a call at East Port Said or Tanger Med to their schedule. However, FuelEU (and ETS) costs can still be avoided if shipping lines reconfigure their routes adding different non-EU ports to their schedule, or when they use non-EU ports, including Tanger Med and East Port Said, to tranship cargo.
FEPORT therefore recommends critically reassessing the thresholds[1] on which the list of ports under the FuelEU Maritime Regulation and ETS Directive are based as well as to adopt measures to adopt evasion via other options than changing the order of port calls. In addition, a State Aid Framework for ports is needed to allow them to remain competitive and deliver on key EU objectives such as energy transition, decarbonisation and military mobility.
[1] Only ports with a transhipment incidence of 65% or more which are located less than 300 nautical miles from the EU can be included in the list of ports
