"The EU ETS poses a substantial financial burden on ferry operators."
European ferry operators are feeling the pinch from the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), even if you are the ‘greenest fleet on the Channel ’.
There’s no better example than Brittany Ferries. It has cut two Channel routes and sold two ships to escape a cash flow crunch caused by Europe’s emissions-trading regulations, COVID-incurred debt, and a post-Brexit decline in passenger numbers.
The restructuring, which will take place between September and year’s end, will slash about €20.0M (US$22.5M) off annual operating costs, but the 53-year-old Roscoff-based group still faces a €27.0M (US$30.4M) emissions bill for 2026 while also paying off the remaining half of the French government’s €117.0M (US$131.9M) loan to keep its services going during the pandemic. “The aim is to allocate resources more efficiently, with a cleaner and more efficient fleet,” Brittany Ferries tells Passenger Ship Technology.
Brittany Ferries is concerned about the likelihood of the UK’s equivalent emissions scheme coming into force on top of a proposal, yet to be approved, to extend the UK’s ETS liability to 50% of emissions on cross-Channel trips from 2028.
The group estimates the emissions bill at roughly 5% of annual turnover. Ironically, Brittany Ferries routinely wins sustainability awards and, with five new vessels launched in the last five years, it claims “the cleanest, greenest fleet on the Channel.” The new vessels include the LNG-electric hybrids Saint Malo and Guillaume de Normandie launched in 2025 but, as the group says, “we’ve had no allowance for the industry-leading investment we’ve already made in the fleet.”
And Brittany Ferries is not alone; other EU ferry companies are feeling the effects of the EU ETS, which now covers 100% of all emissions. Last year, Greece’s 32-vessel Attica group had to foot a €40.0M (US$45.1M) bill for ETS allowances when the surrender obligation rose to 70%, while FuelEU Maritime cost it a further €6.5M in biofuel costs.
And costs will continue to rise. Piraeus-based business consultancy XRTC estimated in a mid-2026 report that Greek coastal shipping alone faces a funding gap of at least €5.0Bn (US$5.6Bn) over the next 25 years to meet emissions compliance.
Interferry has gone to bat for the industry. Although it supports the zero-emission goals, Interferry argues that the 100% coverage has come too fast and too soon and is lobbying the EU to invest all of the €10.0Bn (US$11.3Bn) that Brussels collects through the ETS into maritime decarbonisation instead of allowing it to disappear into national budgets.
Chief executive Mike Corrigan argued in September for the funds to be “ringfenced for maritime decarbonisation, including support for EU-produced sustainable marine fuels, clean technologies, and onshore charging infrastructure.”
Brittany Ferries may have a lifeline, however. Its long-running case against the highly subsidised DFDS Seaways-operated, two-vessel service between Dieppe and Newhaven is due for a decision, perhaps by early 2027. Alleging “market distortion and unfair competition”, Brittany Ferries is claiming at least €125M (US$140.9M) in damages because of annual subsidies of €20.0M (US$22.5M) provided by French local and regional authorities to DFDS.
As chairman Jean-Marc Roué argued: “These subsidies allow DFDS to offer artificially low prices that are disconnected from economic reality, which draws a significant share of traffic away from Brittany Ferries’ Normandy routes.”
source: riviera news
