ZEMBA announced it is now accepting bids for its efuel- focused tender. Through this tender, ZEMBA 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. This equates to 1.5 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 – facilitated by the Aspen Institute – will enable its over 40member companiesto abate approximately 500,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, subject to final commercial details.
“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,” said Ingrid Irigoyen, President and CEO of ZEMBA.
A qualifying bid for ZEMBA’s tender will be a proposal from a containership carrier or consortium for e-fuel-powered shipping for 3-5 years, starting around 2027. All bids must demonstrate at least a 90% lifecycle emission reduction for primary propulsion of the vessel(s) compared to a high emission fuel baseline. After thorough vetting and commercial negotiation, ZEMBA will select the best proposal(s), and members will enter bilateral contracts with the winner(s). For this tender, ZEMBA is open to the potential of multiple winners. Results of the second tender are expected to be announced by the end of 2025.
