The European Union will extend its Emission Trading System to cover offshore vessels of 5,000 gross tonnage and above from 1 January 2027, sources indicated on 13 November 2026.
Since 1 January 2026 the maritime remit of the EU ETS has not been limited to carbon dioxide alone and now also encompasses methane and nitrous oxide, the report noted.
The announcement means the legal application of the EU ETS Directive will be broadened to include a category of offshore vessels meeting the 5,000 GT threshold from the start of 2027.
Sources carried the item on 13 November 2026, setting the dates and technical scope cited in the report.
The extension represents a further step in the progressive widening of the ETS maritime scope that began with the inclusion of additional greenhouse gases in 2026.
Operators and stakeholders will need to take account of the change in scope when considering which assets fall within the Directive from 1 January 2027, the report indicated.
Scope and effective dates
The key dates are clear: 1 January 2026 marked the year when the maritime coverage of the EU ETS began to include methane and nitrous oxide in addition to carbon dioxide; 1 January 2027 will see the Directive’s application reach offshore vessels of 5,000 GT and above.
The 5,000 GT threshold is the specific size criterion identified in the report for offshore units that will fall under the Directive from the start of next year.
Gases already covered
From 1 January 2026 the maritime provisions of the EU ETS moved beyond CO2, explicitly including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) among the emissions counted under the system, according to the report.
That expansion means the accounting and regulatory remit of the ETS now reaches multiple greenhouse gases from maritime sources, as set out in the published item.
The report is the source of the dates, the threshold and the note that the maritime scope already covers CH4 and N2O in addition to CO2.
The extension to offshore vessels of 5,000 GT and above is presented as the next phase of the maritime rollout of the Directive and is scheduled to come into effect on 1 January 2027.
Readers should note the timeline and threshold details set out by the report for planning and compliance consideration, as these are the concrete elements identified in the announcement.
The item does not provide additional operational or enforcement detail beyond the dates, the gases covered and the gross tonnage threshold, and those are the facts reported here.
The Maritime Gazette will continue to report developments and formal texts as they become available, based on the timetable and scope described in The report.