You are using an outdated browser For a better experience using this site, please upgrade to a modern web browser. Subscribe Get Daily Email Subscribe --> Contact Us Sign in Home News & Features Compliance Costs Bunker Prices Bunker Intelligence World News Latest Features World Americas EMEA Asia/Pacific Home News & Features World VIEWPOINT: Waiting Until September for EUAs Is a Risk Owners Can No Longer Afford VIEWPOINT: Waiting Until September for EUAs Is a Risk Owners Can No Longer Afford by Ship & Bunker News Team Friday September 11, 2026 Tweet Follow @shipandbunker Philippos Ioulianou, Managing director, EmissionLink. Image Credit: EmissionLink The EU ETS surrender deadline is becoming one of the most stressful dates in shipping's compliance calendar. Following the first FuelEU Maritime compliance cycle, operators must also surrender EU allowances (EUAs) covering their verified emissions before the end of September. This should be a manageable process. Instead, the way it is handled between owners, charterers, managers and intermediaries can create unnecessary financial exposure, commercial friction and operational risk. “ Firstly, stop treating the surrender deadline as a September administrative task The problem is not the deadline itself. It is the industry's habit of waiting until the last possible moment. Many charter parties, including those incorporating BIMCO 's emissions trading clause, allow charterers to transfer EUAs close to the surrender deadline. That flexibility may appear commercially convenient, but it pushes critical funding and compliance decisions to the brink. The consequences are already evident. Service providers managing compliance for owners can be left carrying exposure worth tens of millions of euros while allowances from charterers arrive late, or sometimes not at all. Owners are reluctant to buy because the charterer is contractually liable. Charterers delay because the contract permits them to. Meanwhile, the entity r