Germany | October 10, 2025 – In a historic move for the global shipping industry, Hapag-Lloyd, in collaboration with the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) and digital verification platform Katalist, has completed the world’s first-ever transfer of verified Sustainable Marine Fuel (SMF) Certificates — marking a turning point in the drive to decarbonize ocean freight.
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A First in Maritime History
This marks the maritime industry’s first verified transfer of Sustainable Marine Fuel (SMF) Certificates — setting a traceable, scalable precedent for global shipping decarbonization.
Using a “book & claim” system — where emissions reductions can be verified and allocated independent of physical fuel use — this model bridges the gap between clean fuel supply and corporate decarbonization goals.
Verified Pathway to Real Emissions Reductions
At the core of this achievement is a certified waste-based biomethane fuel, used by Hapag-Lloyd and allocated to climate-leading cargo owners via ZEMBA. These certificates, verified and distributed through Katalist’s digital platform, represent real, measurable CO₂e emissions avoided — not offsets, but actual reductions tied directly to fuel use.
Through this initial phase, 17 ZEMBA members are collectively avoiding over 82,000 metric tonnes of CO₂e emissions across two years of contracted low-emissions shipping. This isn’t a pilot. It’s an operational system — functioning at scale, with third-party verification, and designed for global replication.
Collaboration with Purpose
The achievement is the result of a tight three-way collaboration:
- Hapag-Lloyd brings the operational capability, deploying certified waste-based biomethane on selected voyages.
- ZEMBA, a coalition of forward-thinking cargo owners, aggregates demand and ensures market pull for sustainable shipping services.
- Katalist, the digital infrastructure provider, validates, records, and distributes emissions savings through a trusted book-and-claim system — bringing full transparency to every tonne avoided.
From the carrier’s side, Milena Lohmer, Project Lead at Hapag-Lloyd, highlighted the importance of transparency in enabling real change “Hapag-Lloyd uses Katalist to transparently verify and allocate CO₂e emission avoidance from our waste-based biomethane-fueled voyages to ZEMBA members — a tangible step toward a cleaner, more sustainable shipping industry.”
For ZEMBA, this moment is the realization of a long-planned strategy. CEO Ingrid Irigoyen emphasized the significance of a robust verification system “A rigorous and verifiable book-and-claim system is critical in accelerating the early phases of the clean energy transition in the maritime sector. ZEMBA members are proud to be among the first stakeholders putting the Katalist system to work.”
Why This Matters
Shipping accounts for nearly 3% of global emissions — and decarbonizing this sector is one of the hardest climate challenges. While clean fuels are emerging, the industry has lacked a system to match fuel use with cargo owner demand in a verifiable, trusted, and scalable way.
This milestone delivers that missing link.
For the first time, cargo owners can claim emissions reductions confidently, knowing the fuel was used, the emissions were avoided, and the certificate was verified — all within a system built for transparency and trust. This model helps bridge the “first-mover gap” — allowing clean fuels to be adopted faster, with real value for both carriers and their customers.
A Blueprint for the Future of Shipping
This achievement isn’t just symbolic — it’s infrastructural. It introduces a new way for:
- Carriers to offer verifiable low-carbon services
- Cargo owners to meet Scope 3 reduction goals credibly
- The market to evolve toward cleaner, contract-driven supply chains
As regulations tighten and sustainability expectations rise, this approach could become the new normal — offering a scalable route to zero-emissions maritime transport.
Looking Ahead
With this first transfer complete, the global shipping industry has crossed a threshold. Not just in ambition — but in execution. What once felt distant is now real: clean fuels in use, emissions verified, and value delivered to those who are willing to lead. The tools are here. The model works. And the transformation of shipping just took its first real, verifiable step forward.
Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) in Brief
ZEMBA is a first-of-its-kind buyers alliance in the maritime sector, formed as a non-profit initiative under Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV). It represents cargo owners committed to decarbonizing ocean freight through collective action.
Mission and Vision
- Mission: Accelerate the commercial deployment of scalable clean energy solutions in shipping.
- Vision: Eliminate virtually all GHG emissions from international maritime shipping by 2050, with 100% clean energy-powered shipping available to freight buyers by 2040.
Strategic Approach
ZEMBA operates as a collective procurement initiative, aggregating demand from multiple cargo owners via competitive tenders (Requests for Proposals – RFPs) to:
- Kickstart the clean fuels market: Bridge the gap between R&D and large-scale commercial deployment of zero or near-zero emission fuels.
- Achieve economies of scale: Use aggregated demand to lower the long-term cost of the clean energy transition.
- Enable credible emissions claims: Provide a mechanism for members to make transparent, verifiable Scope 3 emissions reduction claims.
Key Milestone
- Inaugural tender completed in April 2024, successfully securing a low-emission shipping service based on certified, waste-based biomethane.
- Members are now actively avoiding emissions through this system, using independently verified certificates.
Katalist in Brief
Katalist is a not-for-profit digital platform developed to accelerate maritime decarbonization by enabling the verified tracking and transfer of emissions reductions via sustainable marine fuels.
Development and Governance
- Built by The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping and RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute).
- Developed with input from stakeholders across the maritime value chain.
- Operates as a mission-driven, independent, non-profit initiative.
Core Mechanism: Book & Claim
- Book & Claim separates the environmental benefit (emissions reduction) from the physical use of sustainable fuel.
- A carrier uses a sustainable fuel (e.g., waste-based biomethane) and generates Sustainable Marine Fuel Certificates (SMFcs).
- Freight buyers or stakeholders can purchase these SMFcs through Katalist to:
- Claim verified Scope 3 emissions reductions.
- Do so even if their cargo was not physically on the ship that used the fuel.
Key Features
- Insetting Tool: Allows supply chain actors to decarbonize within the sector itself, rather than relying on external carbon offsets.
- Robust Verification: Requires third-party validation of fuel use, emissions data, and voyages to prevent double counting and ensure traceability.
- Ecosystem Connector: Bridges carriers using low-emission fuels with customers seeking to reduce their carbon footprint, helping share the cost of the “green premium.”
Role in Hapag-Lloyd and ZEMBA Collaboration
- Facilitates the verified tracking, recording, and allocation of emissions savings from Hapag-Lloyd’s waste-based biomethane voyages to ZEMBA members.
- Provides the digital infrastructure supporting the first large-scale, operational use of SMF certificates in maritime shipping.
Hapag-Lloyd in Brief
Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading container shipping companies, with decarbonization as a key pillar of its corporate strategy.
Decarbonization Goals
- Reduce absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fleet operations by approximately one-third by 2030 (compared to 2022 levels).
- Achieve net-zero fleet operations by 2045.
Decarbonization Initiatives
- Fleet modernization and propulsion upgrades:
- Investing in dual-fuel vessels that run on LNG and are future-compatible with alternative fuels like biomethane and e-methane.
- Retrofitting existing vessels to operate on methanol.
- Alternative fuel adoption:
- Expanding the use of biofuels, especially those derived from waste and residues (e.g., used cooking oil).
- Achieving well-to-wake GHG emissions reductions of over 80–90% compared to conventional marine fuels.
- Customer-focused solutions:
- Offering the “Ship Green” service, allowing customers to avoid 25%, 50%, or 100% of emissions from the ocean leg of their shipment using waste-based biofuel, via a Book & Claim model.
- Industry collaboration:
- Participating in initiatives such as the Getting to Zero Coalition.
- Supporting joint industry statements calling for an end date to fossil fuel-powered newbuilds.
Role in ZEMBA’s Inaugural Tender
- Selected as the winner of ZEMBA’s first collective tender in April 2024.
- Committed to supplying shipping services powered by independently certified, waste-based biomethane.
- Projected to achieve a GHG emissions reduction of over 90% for ZEMBA member shipments starting in 2025.
Source Hapag-Lloyd AG | ZEMBA | Katalist