Fuel oil consumption data

All ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above engaged in international voyages must collect data on fuel consumption, distance travelled and hours underway.

At the end of each calendar year, aggregated data collected for the ship must be reported to the ship's flag State or an organisation authorised by the ship's flag State.

The data recording and reporting methods must be described in the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP).

This data is collated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and can be used to monitor the effectiveness of the current emissions reduction requirements and inform future decision-making on further measures to improve the energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Data reporting

The data must be reported in the format set out in MARPOL Annex VI, and include:

the method used to measure fuel oil consumption
fuel consumption for each type of fuel
hours underway and distance travelled
power output (auxiliary engine(s) and main propulsion power)
other relevant information including ice-class (if applicable), Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), deadweight tonnage, net tonnage, gross tonnage, ship type, IMO number, start and end dates.

Australian-flagged ships that undertake international voyages must collect and submit annual fuel oil consumption and transport work data to their Recognised Organisation (RO) by 1 April the following year.

The ship will be issued a statement of compliance after the data is verified as meeting the reporting requirements.

Ships on occasional international voyages

Australian-flagged domestic ships on occasional overseas voyages are not required to submit data on fuel oil consumption.

Ships on occasional overseas voyages:

generally only engaged on domestic voyages but are undertaking a single international voyage, including any return voyage
have no intention to undertake another international voyage in the following 24 months, and
are undertaking a single international voyage for essential maintenance such as drydocking or repairs. If the ship is travelling overseas for commercial purposes, including to transport passengers or cargo, the ship is considered an international ship and must comply with all of the relevant MARPOL requirements.

Ships undertaking occasional overseas voyages must be issued with an Engine International Air Pollution Prevention (EIAPP) certificate. These ships are not expected to maintain their EIAPP certificate but must go through the same process the next time they undertake an occasional overseas voyage.

Alternatively, these ships can maintain their EIAPP certificates if they intend to undertake further international voyages. In this case, the ship must comply in full with the data collection and reporting requirements.