Drewry’s Managing Director Philippe Damas published an article on LinkedIn analysing the expected costs of EU environmental regulations to decarbonise shipping, namely the inclusion of maritime emissions into the EU ETS, the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, and the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive. As it stands - the EU ETS approval by the Parliament and the Council is pending and the FuelEU Maritime and ETD have not been agreed by the institutions yet – Drewry estimates that on the major Asia-North Europe route, these combined policy measures will increase bunker costs and emission-related taxes or allowances from $312 per 40ft container for Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) today to $568/40ft using VLSFO or about $458/40ft using methanol, a low-carbon fuel. These represent estimated increases in bunker costs of at least 47% on this route for ocean carriers and – over time – for exporters and importers. Importantly, they are also expected to give methanol-powered ships, by 2026, a cost advantage of $110 per 40ft over vessels powered by conventional, more polluting fuels, when sailing to and from Europe. (....)