Last November, the IMO agreed on measures — the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) — aimed at existing ships hitting its 2030 target to cut emissions by 40%.

EEXI levels are already set in its Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) standards set for newbuildings.

“As a policy mechanism, the CII is quite nice, but EEXI and EEDI are deeply flawed, because they are technical design measures that create perverse incentives,” says decarbonisation expert Tristan Smith.