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 Four Places a Shipping Company's EU ETS Cost Can Get Stuck in the Charter Chain: Analysis Four Places a Shipping Company's EU ETS Cost Can Get Stuck in the Charter Chain: Analysis by Ship & Bunker News Team Friday September 25, 2026 Tweet Follow @shipandbunker Maritime operations analyst Hugo Federico Hernandez Varela. Image Credit: Hugo Federico Hernandez Varela Regulation puts the surrender duty on the shipping company; recovery from the charterer is contractual Maritime operations analyst Hugo Federico Hernandez Varela names four seams: no clause, no back-to-back, mismatched governing law, split forums Stakes rose in 2026 to 100% of emissions plus methane and nitrous oxide Builds on the Erasmus study that called the statutory reimbursement right a "paper tiger" The EU ETS bill lands on the shipping company in full this year, but the right to pass it on to the charterer who decided the fuel and the voyage can fail at four distinct points in a charter chain, according to a new report by maritime operations analyst Hugo Federico Hernandez Varela , an independent analyst with more than 25 years in cargo, port, and ship agency operations, "The regulator can name who should bear the cost and give another party the right to recover it," he writes. “ London arbitration in one link and a different jurisdiction clause in the next means recovery cannot be run as a single connected action down the chain Maritime operations analyst Hugo Federico Hernandez Varela "Whether that right arrives depends on a separate chain the regulator does not control." The first break he identifies is the simplest: a head charter with no ETS reimbursem