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Glossary

Port of call – EU ETS

Under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), a port where a ship stops to load or unload cargo or to let passengers on or off; stops only to refuel or for repairs don't count. Ports of call decide which share of a voyage's emissions counts.

Who it applies to
Shipping companies whose ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above carry cargo or passengers for commercial purposes to, from or between ports in EU countries, and, after 31 December 2026, offshore ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above. The share of a voyage's emissions they surrender allowances for depends on the ports of call at each end.
Example
In 2026, a bulk carrier of 5,000 gross tonnage and above, carrying cargo for commercial purposes, sails from Santos, Brazil, to Rotterdam and stops in Algeciras, Spain, only to refuel. Algeciras isn't a port of call, so the voyage runs from a port of call outside the EU to one in the EU: 50% of the emissions on that voyage count, plus all its emissions while in Rotterdam port. Had it unloaded cargo in Algeciras, the leg from Algeciras to Rotterdam would count at 100%.
Also known as
ports of call, port of call (EU ETS)

The ETS Directive (Directive 2003/87/EC) defines a port of call as the port where a ship stops to load or unload cargo or to embark or disembark passengers, or the port where an offshore ship stops to relieve the crew. These stops are excluded:

  • Stops only to refuel, obtain supplies, go into dry dock or make repairs to the ship or its equipment
  • Crew changes, except on offshore ships
  • Stops because the ship is in need of assistance or in distress
  • Ship-to-ship transfers carried out outside ports
  • Stops only to shelter from adverse weather, or made necessary by search and rescue
  • Container ships' stops in a listed neighbouring container transhipment port

The neighbouring container transhipment ports are listed in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2297: East Port Said in Egypt and Tanger Med in Morocco. The Commission lists a port outside the EU that is less than 300 nautical miles from a port in an EU country, where transhipment makes up more than 65% of its container traffic, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). Ports in a non-EU country that effectively applies measures equivalent to the Directive aren't listed, and the list is to be updated every two years.

A voyage is any movement of a ship that starts or ends in a port of call. Of a ship's emissions, 50% count on voyages between a port of call in an EU country and one outside it, 100% on voyages between ports of call in EU countries, and 100% while within a port of call in an EU country. The maritime monitoring rules use the same definition of a port of call.

Pending, not law: Commission proposal COM(2026) 616 of 17 July 2026 would give ships performing or supporting offshore operations their own definition, in which the offshore worksite itself is a port of call, and would exclude crew changes for every ship. Emissions linked to offshore worksites in an EU country's territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf would count, and those linked to worksites outside those waters wouldn't. The list of transhipment ports would also take in ports less than 150 nautical miles from an EU port with a draught over 11 metres, berths over 250 metres and container cranes, or with transhipment above 50% of container traffic within 300 nautical miles, and would be updated every year where necessary.

Our shipping explainer explains which voyages count and what to surrender, and our Decode of the July 2026 review covers the proposal.

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