Company: CMRE-PC
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001140361-25-005199
Chunk: 117

Company: Costamare Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 117
---
 the Marshall Islands (although it is understood and acknowledged by the regulators that income-generated activities for shipping companies will generally occur in international waters) and (iii) has (a) an adequate amount of expenditures in the Marshall Islands, (b) adequate physical presence in the Marshall Islands and (c) an adequate number of qualified employees in the Marshall Islands, considering the level of relevant activity carried out in the Marshall Islands.
 
All Marshall Islands non-resident domestic entities and foreign maritime entities are required to submit an Economic Substance Declaration to the Registrar of Corporations (the “Registrar”) on a yearly basis. If the Registrar determines that a relevant entity has not met the economic substance test for the relevant reporting period, the Registrar will issue a notice of non-compliance and assess penalties as disclosed in the notice. Penalties can range from fines up to $100,000 and/or revocation of formation documents and dissolution.
 
Other Regional Requirements
 
The environmental protection regimes in certain other countries, such as Canada, resemble those of the United States. To the extent we operate in the territorial waters of such countries or enter their ports, our containerships would typically be subject to the requirements and liabilities imposed in such countries. Other regions of the world also have the ability to adopt requirements or regulations that may impose additional obligations on our containerships and may entail significant expenditures on our part and may increase the costs of our operations. These requirements, however, would apply to the industry operating in those regions as a whole and would also affect our competitors.
 
Of particular importance, due to the trade intensity in these areas, are four ECAs created in Hong Kong and in China (Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Sea), which are regulated in order to reduce the levels of ship-generated air pollution and restrict the sulphur content of fuels. As of January 1, 2017, vessels at berth in a core port within an emission control area are required to use fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% m/m—except one hour after arrival and one hour before departure. Since January 1, 2018, all ports within Chinese emission control areas have implemented this standard. As of January 1, 2019, vessels must use fuel with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.5% m/m prior to entering China’s territorial sea, in defined areas. Vessels capable of receiving shore power must use shore power if they berth for more than three hours in ports in the coastal ECA that