Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) announced it will focus exclusively on catalyzing the first commercial deployment of e-fuels in the maritime sector through its next tender, set to launch in January 2025.
ZEMBA will aim to aggregate at least 80 billion tonne nautical miles of demand for the emissions abatement associated with e-fuel-powered container shipping for deployment starting in 2027.
This would equate to 1.4 million twenty-foot containers transported across the Pacific Ocean by e-fuels, assuming a benchmark distance of Shanghai to Los Angeles.
Through this tender, ZEMBA will enable its member companies to abate nearly 470,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Through this next tender, ZEMBA seeks:
- 3–5-year contracts for e-fuel-powered container shipping starting in 2027.
- E-fuels bids that achieve at least 90% emission reduction for primary propulsion.
- Bids from individual ocean container carriers or consortiums, with ZEMBA being open to the possibility of multiple winners.
ZEMBA is making history by voluntarily catalyzing commercial e-fuel deployment through our next collective tender.
…said Ingrid Irigoyen, President and CEO, ZEMBA.
Furthermore, ZEMBA’s e-fuel focus for the upcoming second tender builds off experience gained during its inaugural tender. The tender introduced a new low emission fuel alternative to freight buyers in the maritime sector – liquified biomethane from waste.
ZEMBA’s inaugural tender was completed in April 2024. Global carrier Hapag-Lloyd was the winner and is supporting members to collectively abate at least 82,000 metric tonnes of GHGs in 2025 and 2026.
The design of the second tender is also grounded in the goals and aspirations of ZEMBA member companies and insights gained from a Request for Information conducted earlier this year in collaboration with the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub.
