ZEMBA accepting bids for e-fuel-focused tender

Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) is now accepting bids for its e-fuel-focused tender, through which it intends to aggregate approximately 86 billion tonne nautical miles of demand for the emissions abatement associated with e-fuel-powered shipping to be deployed starting in 2027.

Through this second tender, ZEMBA will, reportedly, enable its member companies to abate approximately 500,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, subject to final commercial details.

As disclosed, a qualifying bid for the tender will be a proposal from a containership carrier or consortium for e-fuel-powered shipping for 3-5 years, starting around 2027. ZEMBA revealed that all bids must demonstrate at least a 90% lifecycle emission reduction for the primary propulsion of the vessel(s) compared to a high-emission fuel baseline.

After vetting and commercial negotiation, the alliance will select the best proposal(s), and members will enter bilateral contracts with the winner(s). For this tender, ZEMBA said it is open to the potential of multiple winners. Results are expected to be announced by the end of 2025.

Note that for this tender, ZEMBA has added a pre-qualification process for potential bidders.

Ingrid Irigoyen, President and CEO of ZEMBA, commented: “Getting e-fuel-powered shipping on the water for the first time through this collaborative forward procurement will be a huge technical and commercial innovation milestone for the sector. We look forward to receiving bids from container carriers ready to partner with ZEMBA and our freight buyer members to make maritime history.”

To remind, ZEMBA announced it would focus exclusively on catalyzing the first commercial deployment of e-fuels through its second tender in November 2024. At the time, the alliance also revealed it had welcomed over ten new members, growing its membership to 40 companies.

ZEMBA’s e-fuel focus for this tender is said to build on its inaugural tender, completed in April 2024, feedback from members and a request for information conducted in 2025 in collaboration with the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub. German container shipping major Hapag-Lloyd won the first tender.