Last month, the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) convened for its 78th meeting. One hot topic of discussion was the EEXI and CII regulations, which make up part of the IMO’s ‘short-term measure’ to help meet its goal to reduce the shipping industry’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by half (compared to 2008 levels) by 2050. Reed Smith have reported in-depth on the EEXI and CII regulations and their likely impact on the shipping industry. With the implementation date for the EEXI and CII measures now less than six months away, some long-awaited further details of both the EEXI and CII Regulations have now been released.

Deadlines

The first deadlines for compliance with EEXI and CII have been set. The key dates are as follows:

• The EEXI technical file (i.e. the calculation of the vessel’s Attained EEXI and copies of the underlying documents from which the supporting figures were obtained) will need to be approved by the vessel’s classification society prior to the first annual, intermediate or renewal IAPP survey or the initial IEE survey on or after 1 January 2023.
• The first reporting of the vessel’s Attained Annual CII for 2023 must be submitted to the vessel’s Flag State by 31 March 2024.

New regulations

Additionally, six MEPC regulations were approved which set out further guidelines for the EEXI and CII regulations.

With regards to EEXI, guidance will now be published on:

• The method of calculating the Attained Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index; and
• The survey and certification of the Attained Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index.

In relation to CII, guidance will also follow on:

• Operational carbon intensity indicators and calculation methods - the main update being that gross tonnage should be used as the measure of capacity for ro-ro cargo ships;
• Reference lines for use with operational carbon intensity indicators – reference lines have now been provided for combination carriers, ro-ro cargo ships, ro-ro cargo (vehicle) ships, ro-ro passenger ships and high-speed craft;
• Operational carbon intensity rating of ships – revised rating boundaries have been provided for ro-ro cargo ships and ro-ro passenger ships; and
• Interim guidelines on correction factor and voyage adjustments for CII calculations – interestingly, and despite concerns raised by conference delegates, corrections for adverse weather conditions and extensive port waiting time were not included. However, data will be collected following implementation of CII after 1 January 2023 after which correction factors will be re-examined at a future review. 

The full wording of the guidelines are set to be published by the IMO shortly. For now, this release of further detail on how EEXI and CII are going to operate in practice is welcome given we are now just six months away from their coming into force.