What EU MRV actually measures
Which ships report, what they must report, and what the figures do not cover.
Regulation (EU) 2015/757 requires every ship above 5,000 gross tonnes that calls at a port in the European Economic Area to monitor and report its fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The obligation sits with the company operating the ship. Each annual return is checked by an accredited verifier before it is submitted, and the European Commission publishes the verified returns.
Which ships are in and which are out
The threshold is tonnage plus a European port call, not ownership or flag. A Panamanian bulk carrier trading between Rotterdam and Shanghai reports. A larger vessel that never calls in Europe does not. Warships, fish catching vessels and wooden ships are excluded outright, as are ships below the tonnage threshold however hard they work.
This is why the register holds 22,942 vessels rather than the whole world fleet, and why absence from it says nothing about a ship's emissions.
What is reported
Fuel consumed and CO₂ emitted, split by voyage leg: journeys to an EEA port, journeys from one, journeys between two, and emissions produced while sitting at berth. Alongside those come distance travelled, hours at sea, cargo carried, and a transport work figure that turns emissions into an efficiency ratio.
From the 2024 reporting period the return also covers methane and nitrous oxide, a combined CO₂ equivalent figure, and the share of emissions falling under the EU Emissions Trading System, which was extended to maritime transport that year.
What the figures do not tell you
They cover the reporting year, not the ship's life. They cover fuel burned, not fuel produced: the emissions from refining and shipping that fuel to the bunkering port sit outside the scheme entirely. And a voyage that begins and ends outside Europe is invisible here, even for a vessel that reports.
The scheme measures compliance-grade fuel data. It is the best public record of merchant shipping emissions that exists, and it is still a partial view of a global fleet.
The register by reporting year
| Year | Vessels | CO₂ (Mt) | Fuel (Mt) | At berth (Mt) | Median EEOI | With CO₂-eq |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 11,988 | 143.9 | 46.1 | 8.9 | 12.7 | 0 |
| 2019 | 12,310 | 146.6 | 47.0 | 10.7 | 12.8 | 0 |
| 2020 | 12,020 | 129.1 | 41.4 | 8.4 | 12.6 | 0 |
| 2021 | 12,378 | 126.2 | 40.5 | 8.0 | 12.6 | 0 |
| 2022 | 13,299 | 136.7 | 44.0 | 8.7 | 12.4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 12,681 | 127.9 | 41.3 | 8.2 | 12.3 | 0 |
| 2024 | 13,933 | 146.3 | 47.3 | 7.3 | 12.1 | 13,933 |
| 2025 | 15,260 | 142.8 | 46.1 | 7.8 | 12.2 | 15,260 |
Counts cover the vessels in this register, which excludes returns too incomplete to publish. «With CO₂-eq» is the number of returns that also report methane and nitrous oxide, a field that only exists from the 2024 period.
Where the 2025 emissions came from
| Ship type | Vessels | CO₂ (Mt) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Container ship | 2,209 | 49.3 | 34.5 % |
| Oil tanker | 1,860 | 15.9 | 11.1 % |
| Ro-pax ship | 412 | 13.4 | 9.4 % |
| Bulk carrier | 4,387 | 13.3 | 9.3 % |
| LNG carrier | 360 | 9.1 | 6.4 % |
| Chemical tanker | 1,532 | 8.4 | 5.9 % |
| General cargo ship | 2,304 | 8.0 | 5.6 % |
| Passenger ship (Cruise Passenger ship) | 201 | 7.0 | 4.9 % |
| Ro-ro ship | 231 | 5.3 | 3.7 % |
| Vehicle carrier | 471 | 3.9 | 2.8 % |
The ten largest types by reported CO₂ for 2025; the full list is on the 2025 page.
Who verified the latest returns
| Verifier | Country | Vessels |
|---|---|---|
| DNV | Germany | 6,572 |
| AMERICAN BUREAU OF SHIPPING HELLENIC SINGLE MEMBER LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (ABS HELLENIC S.M. LTD) | Greece | 3,472 |
| Nippon Kaiji Kyokai | Japan | 2,484 |
| HELLENIC LLOYD'S S.A. | Greece | 1,786 |
| NORMEC VERIFAVIA SAS | France | 1,651 |
| Bureau Veritas Certification France | France | 1,479 |
| RINA HELLAS LTD | Greece | 994 |
| CHINA CLASSIFICATION SOCIETY | China | 944 |
Counted on each vessel's most recent return. Every return in the scheme must be checked by an accredited verifier before the Commission publishes it; the verification page lists all 27 bodies.
Questions readers ask
Which ships have to report under EU MRV?
Ships above 5,000 gross tonnes that call at a port in the European Economic Area, regardless of flag or owner. Warships, fish catching vessels and wooden ships are exempt. For the 2025 period this register holds 15,260 vessels with a complete enough return to publish.
How much CO₂ did shipping report for 2025?
142.8 million tonnes across 15,260 vessels, of which 7.8 million tonnes were emitted at berth. The figure covers voyages to, from and between EEA ports plus time at berth, not the vessels' whole year.
Does EU MRV include methane and nitrous oxide?
From the 2024 reporting period, yes: returns carry CH₄, N₂O and a combined CO₂-equivalent figure. 15,260 of the 2025 returns in this register include it. Earlier years report CO₂ only.
What share of the emissions falls under the EU Emissions Trading System?
For 2025, 83.5 million tonnes of the 142.8 million reported, about 58 percent, is flagged as ETS-relevant. Intra-EEA voyages count in full, voyages to or from a non-EEA port count half, and the phase-in reduces the surrendered share in the first years.
Who checks the numbers?
An accredited verifier reviews each company's monitoring plan and annual return before submission. The largest, DNV, verified the latest return for 6,572 vessels here.
How current is this data?
The European Commission publishes revised versions of each year's file on THETIS-MRV throughout the following year. This register re-imports the latest files every month and each vessel page states which reporting years it covers.
Why is a ship I know not here?
Either it is below 5,000 gross tonnes, it made no EEA port call in the reporting year, or its return is too sparse to carry a page: this register only publishes vessels with enough reported data to describe, 22,942 in total.