During the MEPC 75 in November 2020 amendments to MARPOL Annex VI were approved. Within these amendments, the EEXI was introduced. EEXI is part of the IMO’s Greenhouse Gas Strategy and falls within the short-term measures aiming at the reduction of carbon intensity.
EEXI is the extension of EEDI (which concerns new builds) for existing ships. Its adoption is due for the next MEPC meeting (MEPC 76) in June 2021 and it will come to force in 2023. EEXI will be applicable in general for all vessels above 400 GT falling under MARPOL Annex VI but requirements start from larger thresholds for Ro-Ro vessel types (see Table 1 below). Subsequently, the EEDI limits (Table 1) would be implemented on existing ships. In particular, Ro-Ro cargo ships (vehicle carrier) will struggle to be compliant with EEXI required equivalent to EEDI Phase 2. Although limits and reduction rates have been agreed upon, calculation guidelines are a work in progress.
ECG produced a briefing paper on EEXI