MRV – Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (EU and UK)

EU MRV for ships larger than 400 GT

The EU Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (EU MRV) Maritime Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2015/757) aims to assess the environmental impact of maritime transport by collecting and reporting emissions data. It serves as the foundation for carbon tax determination through the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and FuelEU Maritime regulation. The EU MRV applies to vessels engaged in commercial transport of cargo or passengers on routes which begin and/or end at ports within the European Economic Area (EEA).

From 1 January 2025, the revised EU MRV regulations encompass general cargo ships between 400 and 5000 GT, as well as offshore ships of 400 GT and above. 

Learn more in our article EU MRV extended to ships from 400 GT - start preparing now.

EU MRV requirements

Monitoring plan (MP)

In accordance with the EU MRV regulation, a vessel’s MP must be verified by an independent and accredited verifier, such as DNV. The content of the MP is predefined by the EU MRV regulation and includes a description of the method chosen to monitor and report emissions. An MP template is accessible for DNV’s MRV customers (and IMO DCS) and can be generated from the “MRV & DCS > Monitoring Plans” service on the Vessel Services portal on Veracity.

Since 2024, vessels are required to have updated EU MRV MPs. These updates include the addition of an outline of the overall control system (OoCs) and several changes including CH4 and N2O emissions to fulfill the EU ETS requirements. Companies must submit an MP for each relevant ship to the administering authority(AA) for respective verification.

Emissions Report (ER)

The ER contains information about the amount of fuel consumed and the distance travelled, as well as the cargo carried on voyages to, between and from EU ports. If a change of company occurs, a partial ER must be submitted. A partial ER can be defined as the aggregated data from the beginning of the year to the date of company change.

DNV has established a form for reporting bunkering and operational data which is called the OVD (Operational Vessel Data). For more information, please visit our OVD page. The DNV reporting requirements cover the EU MRV, UK MRV, IMO DCS and FuelEU Maritime.

Document of Compliance (DoC)

Upon submission of the aggregated ER, DNV’s technical experts verify it against operational data, bunkering data and external data. The verified ER (annual or partial) in a given year must be submitted by the shipping company to the European Commission, AA and authorities of the flag state, at the latest by 31 March of the following year. It is important to note companies must submit a verified company-level emissions report(CER) at the latest by 31 March of each year. The CER summarizes the total emissions from all ships under the company’s responsibility during the previous year, this includes annual and partial ERs. Therefore, annual and partial ERs must be verified before the CER can be created and submitted for verification.

The AA can ask for the verified report earlier, however not before 28 February.

By 30 June, the DoC of the ER must be carried on board. The DoC of the ER is available on EU’s database THETIS-MRV.

A simplified annual cycle for the EU MRV is illustrated below:

UK MRV

The UK MRV is applicable for vessels above 5000 GT on UK related voyages and is based on EU MRV prior to amendments made in 2023, however with some differences (see the UK legislation page). For vessels calling at UK ports, DNV recommends having a verified MP on board. MPs created for the EU MRV, using our online form, are also treated as a UK MRV MP.

As suggested by the UK Regulation, the verified ER must be submitted by 30 April each year to the UK Administration and by 30 June the ship must carry a valid DoC on board. It is, however, important to note that this is currently not being enforced by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA).

Why DNV as your verifier for the EU and UK MRV?

DNV is an accredited body for the EU MRV verification services as per EU Regulation 2015/757 and amending Regulation (EU)2023/957, and the EU MRV verification is provided to you by DNV, with:

• Comprehensive DNV experience gained from verification of MRV reports since 2018

• Digital reporting and verification

• An established reporting format covering the reporting requirements from all relevant regulations, currently the IMO DCS, EU/UK MRV and FuelEU Maritime

• Operational Vessel Data (OVD), which can be used for other decarbonization requirements (e.g. EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime)

• Real-time data transmission (API) from all major reporting system providers

FAQs

Our comprehensive FAQs provide you with answers to most questions on the EU MRV and the UK MRV. DNV customers can also use our DATE service for questions on the EU/UK MRV.

Disclaimer

DNV Group company DNV SE is the accredited body for EU MRV verification services as per EU Reg. 2015/757. Consequently, the EU MRV verifications and the issuance of EU MRV compliance documents will be provided by DNV SE as accredited body. The respective verification decisions are at the discretion of the DNV SE. 

Fleet Portal related services such as Emissions Insights, data checks, plan generators and report generation as well as the IMO DCS verifications are provided by DNV group company DNV AS.