NorthStandard has announced an exclusive collaboration with leading maritime digital decarbonisation experts BetterSea. The new partnership will allow NorthStandard members heavily discounted access to the BetterSea FuelEU Maritime Compliance service, including its in-house digital support resources.
The new FuelEU Maritime reporting requirements for shipping companies began on January 1 2025. This new legislation requires vessels to monitor and report the Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) intensity of energy used onboard and meet a series of reduction targets. Non-compliant vessels face monetary penalties which can only be mitigated using alternative energy or a compliance mechanism called ‘pooling.’ Pooling refers to fleet-level compliance, grouping over- and under-compliant vessels to collectively meet the regulatory target.
NorthStandard's exclusive partnership with BetterSea will make the FuelEU Platform Solution available to its members at a significant discount. The platform provides the digital support owners need to achieve FuelEU Maritime compliance, supports end-to-end data handling, internal and external pooling within contractual and financial frameworks, and final pool verification.
Mark Smith, Loss Prevention Director – Decarbonisation, NorthStandard
For NorthStandard's members taking advantage of this offer, the FuelEU platform pooling transaction fees will be reduced to zero for the initial half-year of reporting, with BetterSea only charging an administration fee to set up the required escrow accounts.
In an example offered by the partners, a 20,000 TEU containership consuming 29,000 tonnes of fossil fuels within the scope of the FuelEU Maritime Regulation could save, conservatively estimated, about 45% of its compliance costs via pooling. With the NorthStandard offer, the member can save another 45,000 EUR in transaction fees.
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The BetterSea FuelEU Platform Solution with its integrated pooling marketplace allows users to track and plan their compliance balance with precision and to obtain a clear view of their responsibilities under the legislation. The functionality covers internal and external pooling, inclusive of the legal and financial pooling framework, banking and borrowing mechanisms, and sending of the final pool data for verification. Up to 30 hours of consultancy is provided on any of the decarbonisation regulatory topics for each NorthStandard member that joins the BetterSea FuelEU platform.
NorthStandard’s Loss Prevention Director – Decarbonisation, Mark Smith, said: “The BetterSea platform provides a comprehensive service tool to ensure a seamless transition to FuelEU compliance for our members and offers complete security for sensitive data. Our confidence in its value for shipping is reflected in the exclusive savings we can offer NorthStandard members.”
Maximilian Schroer, co-founder, BetterSea
BetterSea co-founder Maximilian Schroer, who previously led Maersk's Compliance Strategy and Implementation projects for CII, EU ETS, FuelEU, the Clean Shipping Act, and air emissions, said: “FuelEU Maritime creates a complex landscape of stakeholders and compliance mechanisms with very different requirements. Our end-to-end solution simplifies and streamlines all of these. Such an approach allowed us to equip customers with a complete suite of options to balance their compliance strategies with reactivity to unpredictable operational and market dynamics throughout the year. FuelEU Maritime delivers a simple and intuitive single platform experience that minimises compliance cost and maximises profits.”
Established in 2023 by two former Maersk Group environmental and compliance experts, BetterSea has extensive domain expertise in maritime decarbonisation, with solutions ranging from compliance and primary Scope 3 emission data tools to a complete decarbonisation product suite. Around 5,000 vessels are currently being onboarded to the FuelEU platform, providing a dynamic marketplace for environmental compliance.
