What each ship type records as cargo carried per voyage under EU MRV (EU Regulation 2016/1928)

EU Regulation 2015/757 requires cargo carried to be monitored for each voyage to or from a port under a Member State’s jurisdiction. For passenger ships, ro-ro ships and container ships, Annex II of that Regulation sets the figure directly. For the remaining ship types, Article 3 of Commission Implementing Regulation 2016/1928 sets which figure counts as cargo carried, type by type.

Pick the wrong ship type and every figure after it is wrong. Recording as deadweight a ship that should record mass, or recording an LNG carrier on loading instead of on discharge, changes the transport work and comes back from verification. Article 3 lists twelve categories and assigns one or two figures to each.

Scope: The requirements in this article reach only voyages covered by EU Regulation 2015/757, that is, voyages to or from a port under a Member State’s jurisdiction. This is not a worldwide obligation. It is a regional regime that works inside EU MRV. The figure may not be the same one used for transport work under other schemes.

Cargo carried is one of the per-voyage parameters in Article 9

1. Based on the monitoring plan assessed in accordance with Article 13(1), for each ship arriving in or departing from, and for each voyage to or from, a port under a Member State’s jurisdiction, companies shall monitor in accordance with Part A of Annex I and Part A of Annex II the following parameters:

Article 9(1) of Regulation 2015/757 lists the parameters monitored per voyage from (a) to (g). Port of departure and port of arrival with the date and hour, amount and emission factor for each fuel consumed, emissions, distance travelled, time spent at sea, cargo carried and transport work. Cargo carried is (f).

Article 1 of Implementing Regulation 2016/1928 ties its own role to that one point (f).

This Regulation lays down rules specifying the parameters applicable to the determination of cargo carried for categories of ships other than passenger ships, ro-ro ships and container ships for the purposes of monitoring of other relevant information on a per-voyage basis pursuant to Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) 2015/757.

Passenger ships, ro-ro ships and container ships are excluded. According to recital (1), those three types are set directly by other points of paragraph 1 of Part A of Annex II to Regulation 2015/757, not by point (g). This Implementing Regulation covers the other types only.

Article 3 assigns the cargo carried figure to each ship type

‘Cargo carried’ for the purpose of monitoring of other relevant information on a per-voyage basis pursuant to Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) 2015/757, shall be determined as follows:

Points (a) to (l) of the first paragraph of Article 3 are set out below as a table. The ship type definitions are in Article 2.

Point	Ship type	Figure used as cargo carried
(a)	Oil tanker	mass of the cargo on board
(b)	Chemical tanker	mass of the cargo on board
(c)	LNG carrier	volume of the cargo on discharge. If discharged in several lots, the sum until new cargo is loaded
(d)	Gas carrier	mass of the cargo on board
(e)	Bulk carrier	mass of the cargo on board
(f)	General cargo ship	deadweight carried for laden voyages, zero for ballast voyages
(g)	Refrigerated cargo ship	mass of the cargo on board
(h)	Vehicle carrier	mass of the cargo on board. Actual mass, or the number of cargo units or occupied lane metres multiplied by default weights
(i)	Combination carrier	mass of the cargo on board
(j)	Ro-pax ship	number of passengers and mass of the cargo on board. Mass as actual mass, or cargo units or occupied lane metres multiplied by default weights
(k)	Container/ro-ro cargo ship	volume of the cargo on board. Cargo units, occupied lane metres and TEUs each converted and summed
(l)	Other ship types	mass of the cargo on board, or deadweight carried for laden voyages and zero for ballast voyages

Seven of the twelve lines answer with one figure, the mass of the cargo on board. Recital (2) gives the reason. Oil tankers, chemical tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers, refrigerated cargo ships and combination carriers use mass to stay in line with the IMO Guidelines for voluntary use of the EEOI.

Ro-pax ships record two figures together

(j) for ro-pax ships, as the number of passengers and as the mass of the cargo on board, determined as the actual mass or the number of cargo units (trucks, cars, etc.) or occupied lane meters multiplied by default values for their weight;

A ro-pax ship is defined in Article 2(10) as a ship carrying more than 12 passengers with ro-ro cargo space on board. Because it carries passengers and cargo together, its cargo carried is also two figures. The number of passengers and the mass of the cargo on board. They are not merged into one figure.

The mass of the cargo is settled by one of three methods. The actual mass, the number of cargo units such as trucks and cars multiplied by default weights, or the occupied lane metres multiplied by default weights. Point (h) for vehicle carriers uses the same three methods.

General cargo ships record deadweight carried, and ballast voyages are zero

(f) for general cargo ships, as deadweight carried for laden voyages and as zero for ballast voyages;

General cargo ships alone use deadweight carried rather than the mass of the cargo. Recital (4) says this is because the variation in cargo density is significant for this ship type. Ballast voyages are zero.

The meaning of deadweight carried is set by Article 2(12).

‘Deadweight carried’ means, in metric tonnes, the measured volume displacement of a ship at a load draught condition multiplied by the relative water density at departure reduced by the ship’s lightweight and by the weight of the fuel on board determined at the departure of the laden voyage concerned;

It is the measured volume displacement at the load draught at departure, multiplied by the relative water density at that time, less the lightweight and the weight of fuel on board at departure. It is in metric tonnes. So the departure draught and the fuel remaining on the laden voyage have to be in that day’s record for this figure to exist.

The second paragraph of Article 3 lets general cargo ships use the mass of the cargo on board as an additional parameter on a voluntary basis. The third paragraph lets vehicle carriers add deadweight carried in the same way. Neither replaces the assigned figure. Both are added to it.

LNG carriers are measured on discharge, not on loading

(c) for LNG carriers, as the volume of the cargo on discharge, or if the cargo is discharged at several occasions during a voyage, the sum of the cargo discharged during a voyage and the cargo discharged at all subsequent ports of call until new cargo is loaded;

The cargo carried of an LNG carrier is the volume of the cargo on discharge. Not mass, and not the quantity loaded. Where the cargo is discharged in several lots during a voyage, the discharge during that voyage and the discharges at the following ports of call until new cargo is loaded are added together.

Article 2(3) and (4) separate LNG carriers from gas carriers. An LNG carrier is a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas in bulk in independent insulated tanks, and a gas carrier is a tanker carrying liquefied gases other than LNG in bulk. A gas carrier uses the mass of the cargo on board under point (d).

A ship in no category is chosen by the company and written into the monitoring plan

(l) for other ship types not falling under any of the categories mentioned in points (a) to (k) nor under those in points (d), (e) and (f) of paragraph 1 of Part A of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2015/757, as mass of cargo on board or as deadweight carried for laden voyages and zero for ballast voyages.

A ship that falls under none of (a) to (k), nor under the passenger, ro-ro and container ships of Annex II to Regulation 2015/757, chooses one of two figures. The mass of the cargo on board, or deadweight carried for laden voyages and zero for ballast voyages.

In order to ensure consistency and comparability of data over time in accordance with Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2015/757, the company’s choice concerning the most appropriate cargo carried parameter is to be documented in the ship’s monitoring plan and applied accordingly.

Recital (7) says the choice is documented in the monitoring plan and applied accordingly. It is not a choice that changes from voyage to voyage. Once chosen, it is kept for the consistency of the data over time.

Worth confirming

The passages above come from the preamble and Articles 1, 2 and 3 of Commission Implementing Regulation 2016/1928 and from Article 9 of Regulation 2015/757. This article covers the text of the two Regulations only.

The cargo carried rules for passenger ships, ro-ro ships and container ships in Annex II to Regulation 2015/757 are not covered here. The default weight values multiplied for vehicle carriers and ro-pax ships are not set by this Implementing Regulation. Under Article 4 the Implementing Regulation enters into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal, and whether there have been later amendments is checked on the EUR-Lex document page.

You can consult the cited source documents

These links lead to the official publishers of the documents discussed here. Match the edition and provisions cited in the article; for EU legislation, also consult the consolidated versions and amendment history on the document page.

• EUR-Lex · 32016R1928
• EUR-Lex · 32015R0757

Continue with the related operational guidance

• The EU MRV reporting deadline and the 18-month document of compliance that meets it (EU Regulation 2015/757)
• The shipping phase-in schedule and the surrender duty that stays behind when costs move (EU Directive 2003/87)