Retailer alliance launches zero-emission container shipping tender

The Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) has invited shipping lines to bid for the transportation of containers on vessels powered by zero-emission fuels.

PHOTO: Ship carrying Amazon's containers. Twitter of @Port_Houston

Major American retailers Amazon, Patagonia and the German coffee chain Tchibo launched ZEMBA, along with the US-based Aspen Institute in March this year.

Through the tender, ZEMBA seeks bids from shipping companies for the transportation of 600,000 twenty-foot containers (TEUs) over a three-year period on vessels fuelled by zero-emission fuels starting from 2025.

The tender seeks bids from “shipping services, from individual carriers or consortiums, that achieve at least a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional fossil fuels on a lifecycle basis,” ZEMBA says.

Lifecycle emissions encompass the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with the entire life cycle of the energy source. This includes not only the emissions released during the consumption or combustion of the fuel, but also the emissions generated during the production, processing and transmission.

The fuel choice “will address safety and land use concerns, particularly those that relate to biogenic substances,” the retail alliance adds.

“Maritime shipping is an essential service for global companies like Amazon, and we urgently need this sector to make clean fuel investments to reach our climate goals,” Amazon’s vice president of global transportation Adam Baker says.

ZEMBA will consider the bids on the following basis:

• The bidder should have sufficient capacity to cover ZEMBA member’s total demand of “600,000+ TEUs across a distance of 6,000 nautical miles/~11,000 km over three years.”
• They should have access to fuels “that provide GHG emission reductions of at least 90% compared to traditional fossil fuels on a lifecycle basis.”
• The bidder should be able to present transparent fuel lifecycle emissions to validate emission reduction claims. This will be ensured by “rigorous in-sector book-and-claim approaches that assure highly credible emissions reductions.”

The alliance will also negotiate a “green premium” - the additional cost of carbon-neutral shipping – for the aggregated demand of its members. It also seeks vessel and fuel assurances from all bidders. Meanwhile, the winning bidder will have to “to provide third-party verification of the emissions reduction ZEMBA members can claim.”

The tender is focused on “stimulating a new marketplace for zero-emission fuels and deploying long-term, scalable solutions for the entire shipping industry.”

ZEMBA intends to raise the bar on lifecycle emission reduction targets beyond 90% as technology and green fuel infrastructure become more mature.

The tender proposal was developed in collaboration with the classification society Lloyd’s Register, climate and energy advisory company Neoteric Energy and Climate and law firm Pillsbury.

This proposal has secured more than 20 members, including Amazon, Bauhaus, Brooks Running, Chewy, Electrolux Group, Flexport, Green Worldwide Shipping, IKEA, Levi Strauss, lululemon, Meta, Moose Toys, New Balance, Nike, Patagonia, Philips, Schneider Electric, Sport-Thieme and Tchibo.

By Tuhin Roy

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