Differentiated Ship Registration Fees
The EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) is part of the energy efficiency regulations under MARPOL Annex VI that aims to improve shipping CO2 emissions via enforcing future targets for ship designs that will provide major reductions to EEDI. Some administrations have taken, or are evaluating, to use this index for differentiated registration fee or tonnage taxation. An example of such an initiative is the one by Singapore MPA (Maritime Port Authority) in 2011 that was undertaken under the Singapore Green Ship Programme.
The Green Ship Programme targets Singapore-flagged ships. The MPA provides incentives to ship owners who adopt energy efficient ship designs that will reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Accordingly, Singapore-flagged ships registered on or after 1 July 2011, which go beyond the requirements of the International Maritime Organization’s EEDI, will enjoy a 50% reduction on the Initial Registration Fees under both the normal registration and the Block Transfer Scheme during the registration of the ship. They will also enjoy a 20% rebate on Annual Tonnage Tax payable every year for a number of years based on a scheme that uses EEDI.
Existing ships which utilise energy efficient ship designs that meet the requirements for the Green Ship Programme can also take part in this programme, but will only enjoy the 20% rebate on Annual Tonnage Tax payable every year until the ship ceases to exceed the requirements of IMO EEDI reference lines (MariEMS 2017).