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The Maritime Regulatory Deadline Map, 2026–2030
Every dated IMO, EU, IACS and ILO milestone that changes what a ship or a technical office has to prove, in one table — with the instrument it comes from and the evidence a PSC officer, ISM auditor or FuelEU verifier will ask to see. 18 entries, compiled from published instrument texts and free to republish with attribution.
Showing 18 of 18 milestones, earliest first.
| Applies from | Milestone | What changes | Instrument | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-01-01IMO · Fleet-wide | Cyber risk in the safety management system (in force, still failed at audit) | Cyber risk must be addressed in the SMS. It remains one of the more common ISM observations because policy exists but on-board evidence does not. | IMO Resolution MSC.428(98), guidance MSC-FAL.1/Circ.3/Rev.2 | Cyber risk assessment per ship, drill or test records, and evidence of software and access management on board. |
| 2022-06-01IMO · Fleet-wide | BWMS commissioning testing mandatory for new installations (in force) | Any newly installed ballast water management system requires commissioning testing with indicative analysis before the survey is completed. | BWM Convention Reg. E-1, BWM.2/Circ.70/Rev.1 | Commissioning test report retained with the ballast water record book and the BWM plan. |
| 2023-01-01IMO · Fleet-wide | EEXI verified at first applicable survey (in force) | Attained EEXI must not exceed required EEXI, commonly achieved by engine or shaft power limitation with the associated on-board management manual. | MARPOL Annex VI Reg. 25, MEPC.350(78) | EEXI Technical File, IEE Certificate, and the OPL/ShaPoLi on-board management manual with power records. |
| 2024-07-01IACS · Newbuild | IACS UR E26 — cyber resilience of ships (in force) | Ships contracted for construction on or after 1 July 2024 must be designed and built to a defined cyber-resilience standard, with the evidence held at class. | IACS UR E26 (Rev.1) | Ship cyber resilience plan, inventory of CBS, network diagrams, and test records accepted by class at delivery. |
| 2024-07-01IACS · Newbuild | IACS UR E27 — cyber resilience of on-board systems and equipment (in force) | Equipment suppliers must deliver systems meeting defined security capabilities, which shifts the documentation burden onto procurement and the technical office. | IACS UR E27 (Rev.1) | Supplier security capability declarations and the maintained inventory of computer-based systems. |
| 2024-09-01Regional · Tanker & gas | SIRE 2.0 fully replaces the legacy VIQ programme (in force) | Risk-based, partly unannounced inspections with question sets drawn per ship, and a hard human-element component covering process, hardware and people. | OCIMF SIRE 2.0 programme | Pre-inspection questionnaire, crew familiarity evidence, and closed-out observations from the prior report. |
| 2025-01-01EU · EU trade | EU MRV extended to general cargo of 400-5,000 GT and offshore ships | Smaller general cargo and offshore vessels came into the monitoring and reporting regime, ahead of any later ETS decision on that segment. | Regulation (EU) 2015/757 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2023/957 | Approved monitoring plan and per-voyage fuel and cargo data for the affected ships. |
| 2025-06-26IMO · Fleet-wide | Hong Kong Convention on ship recycling in force | Every ship above 500 GT must carry a maintained Inventory of Hazardous Materials with an international certificate, and recycling must go to authorised facilities. | Hong Kong International Convention, 2009 | IHM Part I kept current, International Certificate on IHM, and the IHM maintenance procedure inside the SMS. |
| 2026-01-01EU · EU trade | EU ETS reaches 100% of verified emissions | The phase-in ends. Allowances must be surrendered for 100% of verified 2026 emissions, against 70% for 2025 and 40% for 2024. Budget and charter-party cost recovery both step up accordingly. | Directive 2003/87/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2023/959, Art. 3ga | Verified emissions report per ship, allowance surrender records, and the cost-allocation clause with the charterer. |
| 2026-01-01EU · EU trade | Methane and nitrous oxide enter the EU ETS scope | CO2-equivalent reporting widens beyond CO2 to CH4 and N2O, which materially changes the position of LNG-fuelled ships with methane slip. | Regulation (EU) 2015/757 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2023/957 | Monitoring plan updated for CH4 and N2O, and verifier sign-off on the amended plan before the reporting year. |
| 2026-01-01IMO · Fleet-wide | CII reduction factors tighten on the pre-2030 trajectory | Required annual operational CII becomes progressively stricter each year to 2030, so a rating held in 2025 is not held in 2026 on the same operating profile. | MARPOL Annex VI Reg. 28, MEPC.338(76) and MEPC.339(76) | Annual CII rating statement and, at rating D for three years or E for one, an approved corrective action plan in the SEEMP Part III. |
| 2026-01-01EU · EU trade | EU Ship Recycling Regulation alignment work continues | EU-flag and EU-calling ships continue to require a valid IHM under the EU regime, which runs alongside rather than inside the Hong Kong Convention. | Regulation (EU) 1257/2013 | Valid IHM certificate or statement of compliance, and evidence of periodic IHM updates after conversions or supplies. |
| 2026-01-31EU · EU trade | First FuelEU Maritime verified report and compliance balance | The 2025 GHG intensity report must be verified, and the resulting compliance balance banked, borrowed or pooled. Penalties fall due where the balance is negative and unpooled. | Regulation (EU) 2023/1805, Arts. 15-21 | Verified FuelEU report, FuelEU Document of Compliance, and any pooling agreement registered before the deadline. |
| 2026-12-23ILO · Fleet-wide | MLC 2022 amendments applicable | Amendments covering repatriation, connectivity, provisions and PPE fit become applicable, and are inspected at the next MLC inspection. | MLC 2006, 2022 amendments to the Code | Updated DMLC Part II, purchase and issue records for correctly sized PPE, and evidence of social connectivity provision. |
| 2027-01-01IMO · Fleet-wide | IMO Net-Zero Framework — indicative first applicability | A global GHG fuel intensity standard with an economic element is scheduled to begin applying to ships above 5,000 GT, subject to adoption and entry-into-force steps. | Draft new MARPOL Annex VI Chapter 5 (IMO Net-Zero Framework) | Confirm status with flag before planning: adoption and entry into force are the gating steps, not the indicative date. |
| 2027-01-01EU · EU trade | EU ETS extends to offshore ships of 5,000 GT and above | Offshore vessels above 5,000 GT enter the ETS, having entered MRV reporting two years earlier. | Directive (EU) 2023/959 | Verified emissions data for the qualifying offshore units and an allowance account in place before the first surrender. |
| 2030-01-01EU · EU trade | FuelEU GHG intensity limit steps to a 6% reduction | The intensity limit tightens from the 2% reduction applying from 2025, so a compliance strategy that banks surplus in the late 2020s materially changes exposure. | Regulation (EU) 2023/1805, Annex I | Multi-year compliance-balance plan showing banked, borrowed and pooled positions per ship. |
| 2030-01-01EU · EU trade | On-shore power supply obligation at TEN-T core ports | Container and passenger ships at berth in scope ports must connect to on-shore power or use an accepted zero-emission technology. | Regulation (EU) 2023/1805, Art. 6 | Berth-by-berth OPS connection records or documented exemption grounds for each call. |
Cite this dataset
Full Ahead Maritime (2026). "The Maritime Regulatory Deadline Map 2026-2030." https://fullaheadmaritime.com/maritime-regulatory-deadline-map
CC BY 4.0 — reuse, republish and adapt with attribution to Full Ahead Maritime.
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<iframe src="https://fullaheadmaritime.com/embed/deadlines"
width="100%" height="520" loading="lazy" style="border:1px solid #dbe7ee;border-radius:12px"
title="Maritime Regulatory Deadline Map 2026-2030"></iframe>How to read this table
- Dates are the applicability or entry-into-force dates published at the time of compilation. Instruments get amended and phase-ins get deferred — verify against the current text and flag guidance before acting on an entry.
- Entries already in force are included deliberately: several of them are still the most commonly failed items at audit, so a map that only looks forward misses live exposure.
- The IMO Net-Zero Framework entry is marked indicative. Adoption and entry into force are the gating steps, not the date.
- Nothing here is legal advice. It is a working index compiled by a Chief Engineer and serving Technical Superintendent, published so it can be checked.