ZERO44 & Hecla Emissions Management to Deliver Seamless FuelEU Pooling

[By: ZERO44]

ZERO44, an innovative SaaS startup for carbon regulation management for merchant ships, and Hecla Emissions Management, provider of regulatory support services, are partnering to bring shipowners, managers, and charterers a fully integrated pathway to manage FuelEU pooling.

The partnership enables shipping companies to manage the full FuelEU lifecycle in one connected workflow - from forecasting and planning, to surplus trading and pool execution, through to monitoring compliance positions and pool validity.

An end-to-end FuelEU Pooling workflow, starting in ZERO44

The Hecla-ZERO44 partnership comes at an important point in time. “Now that the first FuelEU Maritime reporting year has come to an end, companies with vessels in deficit can no longer rely on alternative measures, such as consuming biofuels, to offset generated deficits,” says Friederike Hesse, Co-Founder and Managing Director of ZERO44. “Their only option to reduce cost is to pool with surplus vessels. We want to offer customers a low-risk, end-to-end FuelEU pooling workflow that allows them to make informed, commercially sound decisions.”

ZERO44’s software consolidates vessel data, verifier reports, bunker data, and charter terms into a single source of truth. Building on this foundation, ZERO44 provides advanced forecasting and scenario modelling to assess the cost impact of different compliance strategies, including pooling.

ZERO44 customers gain a clear view on how much FuelEU surplus they are expected to generate or require, the price levels at which buying or selling surplus becomes economically attractive, and how different compliance scenarios affect total compliance costs across regulations. This allows buyers and sellers to enter the Hecla marketplace with a clear understanding of volumes and price thresholds, enabling confident and informed trading decisions.

Flexible surplus trading with Hecla

Through FuelEU Maritime Exchange, Hecla offers a unique approach to pooling and surplus trading. Hecla’s proprietary legal contract allows the conversion of verified compliance statements into tradeable tokens, each representing a share of a vessel’s surplus. These tokens can be transferred between stakeholders, sold to third parties, or banked for future years. 

Hecla’s model is designed to synchronise FuelEU pooling regulations with the operational and contractual complexity of shipping. Vessels do not need to be committed upfront for the entire compliance year. Instead, token holders designate which of their vessels are added to a surplus vessel’s compliance pool only after the verification period. Tokens can be resold or banked, and multiple charterers can hold shares in the same vessel’s surplus without conflict.

“ZERO44 has built a highly credible compliance and forecasting platform that gives shipping companies clarity during the course of the monitoring period, which aligns well with Hecla’s approach,” says Benjamin Gibson, Director of Hecla Emissions Management. “Both companies focus on transparency, accuracy, and practical decision-making. By connecting ZERO44’s forward-looking compliance insights with Hecla’s flexible surplus trading contract, we enable market participants to trade with confidence and significantly reduce both cost and risk.”

Transparency, flexibility, and risk reduction

Friederike Hesse adds: “Over the last year, we have closely monitored the development of FuelEU pooling markets and evaluated the various models out there. Pooling exposes participants to the emissions of others, so choosing a pooling solution with a strong legal framework, transparency, and risk-reduction measures is essential. Hecla offers a robust and safe setup, alongside flexibility that reflects real-world owner-charterer relationships, including surplus compensation and off-hire handling. At the same time, ZERO44 customers remain free to continue working with other pooling providers that better suit their strategy, and we can support those setups as well.”

Together, ZERO44 and Hecla aim to set a new standard for FuelEU pooling by combining data-driven planning with transparent and flexible market access, helping shipping companies navigate compliance with confidence.