ZERO44 and Hecla Emissions Management have launched a joint FuelEU pooling solution to streamline emissions compliance for shipowners and charterers. By integrating ZERO44’s predictive software with Hecla’s trading and legal framework, the partnership offers a secure end-to-end workflow for managing emissions surpluses. This collaboration provides the maritime industry with a transparent, risk-mitigated pathway to meet EU maritime regulations while optimizing compliance costs through digital tokenization and verified reporting.
Berlin and London | March 25, 2026 – ZERO44, the Berlin-based maritime software innovator, has joined forces with Hecla Emissions Management to launch a comprehensive FuelEU pooling solution designed for shipowners, managers, and charterers. This collaboration promises a seamless, end-to-end workflow that spans planning, forecasting, surplus trading, and pool execution, aiming to simplify compliance while reducing both cost and risk.
Addressing a Growing Need in FuelEU Compliance
The first reporting year under the EU’s FuelEU Maritime regulation has now concluded, revealing the practical challenges for shipping companies striving to manage emissions compliance efficiently. For many operators, the only viable way to reduce costs is by pooling surplus emissions with other vessels. However, pooling introduces potential exposure to emissions from other fleet operators, making transparency, legal robustness, and risk mitigation essential criteria when selecting a pooling partner.
Friederike Hesse, CEO of ZERO44, explained the rationale behind the collaboration “Over the last year, we have closely monitored the development of FuelEU pooling markets and evaluated the various models out there. Hecla offers a robust and safe setup, alongside flexibility that reflects real-world owner-charterer relationships, including surplus compensation and off-hire handling. As always, ZERO44 customers remain free to continue working with other pooling providers that better suit their strategy, and we support those setups as well.”
Combining Expertise for Greater Transparency and Efficiency
Hecla Emissions Management, known for its comprehensive compliance solutions for the EU ETS and FuelEU frameworks, brings its market-leading services into the partnership.
Benjamin Gibson, Director at Hecla Emissions Management, emphasized the commercial and operational benefits “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.”
The integrated solution covers the full spectrum of FuelEU requirements: from emissions data verification and surplus tokenisation to digital platform integration and advisory services. Both companies assert that this collaboration will enhance transparency, improve cost efficiency, and give industry stakeholders greater confidence in meeting regulatory obligations.
About the Partners
ZERO44: The Digital Navigator of EU Regulation
Based in the tech hub of Berlin, ZERO44 is a SaaS pioneer founded in 2022 by Nils Obermann and Friederike Hesse. While 123Carbon manages the value of the carbon, ZERO44 manages the obligation of the carbon.
- Strategic Stance: ZERO44 is known for its candid industry outlooks. Their 2025 whitepaper, “Beyond the Pooling Hype,” famously warned that pooling is not a “silver bullet” and urged shipowners to focus on strategic biofuel blending and technical measures instead.
- The Problem Solver: With the maritime industry entering a “regulatory hurricane” (CII, EU ETS, and now FuelEU Maritime), shipping companies were drowning in spreadsheets. ZERO44 built a “Carbon Ledger” to centralize this data.
- The “FuelEU Calculator”: In late 2024, ZERO44 became a household name in bunkering circles by releasing a free, high-fidelity calculator that allowed operators to forecast their massive non-compliance penalties before they happened.
- Beyond Compliance: They recently expanded into FuelEU Pooling, partnering with firms like Hecla Emissions Management in March 2026 to help vessels with “carbon deficits” trade with those in “surplus.”
Hecla Emissions Management: The Compliance Specialists
Headquartered in London, Hecla Emissions Management serves as the critical financial and regulatory bridge for the maritime industry’s transition to a high-cost carbon environment. While many firms focus solely on data, Hecla focuses on the execution, ensuring that every gram of CO2 is accounted for, traded, and surrendered in accordance with strict EU law.
- Strategic Advantage: For the bunkering sector, Hecla is the firm that ensures “Green” fuel isn’t just a physical product but a verified regulatory asset that can be legally traded or pooled across a fleet.
- The Mission: To provide shipowners and charterers with a “safe harbor” for managing the high-stakes financial liabilities of the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime.
- The “Execution” Engine: Hecla doesn’t just calculate emissions; they manage the actual Union Registry accounts, procure EU Allowances (EUAs), and facilitate the physical surrendering of credits to avoid the €100+ per ton penalties.
- Key Innovation: Surplus Tokenization. In the context of FuelEU, Hecla has pioneered a flexible surplus trading contract. This allows vessels with a “green surplus” to effectively tokenize and trade that value to vessels in “deficit,” creating a new revenue stream for efficient operators.
- A Bespoke Digital Ecosystem: They integrate directly with third-party verifiers to pull high-fidelity emissions data into a private, Hecla-powered platform. This provides customers with a transparent, real-time view of their “Carbon Wallet,” mirroring the sophistication of a traditional bank account.
Through this collaboration, ZERO44 and Hecla aim to centralize the emissions compliance value chain, offering shipowners, managers, and charterers a fully transparent, cost-effective, and legally sound approach to FuelEU pooling.
Source: ZERO44 | Hecla Emissions Management