Industry coalitions unite to advance green shipping technologies

Industry organizations, the Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association (ZESTAs) and the Skies and Seas Hydrogen-fuels Accelerator (SASHA) Coalition, have partnered to drive policy and industry action to develop and deploy green shipping technologies and accelerate the maritime energy transition.

The two coalitions, collectively representing 70 companies, reportedly joined efforts to advocate for policy supporting absolute zero-emission solutions combining hydrogen, battery-electric, and wind propulsion technologies.

Aurelia Leeuw, Director of EU Policy at the SASHA Coalition, stated: “Pooling our expertise to drive maritime decarbonisation, the SASHA Coalition and ZESTAs together are more than the sum of our parts. While green maritime policy needs strengthening across the board, regulation to support absolute zero emission technologies is particularly lacking: the industry players best positioned to adopt these solutions are not yet incentivised to do so. SASHA and ZESTAs will work together to bridge the gap between policymakers and the innovative companies we represent to achieve the regulatory environment needed to drive their revolutionary climate solutions.”

Madadh MacLaine, Secretary General of ZESTAs, commented: “We have had the technology to achieve absolute zero emissions in maritime transport for decades. These technologies are market ready but require solid policy and regulations to be commercially viable. The deteriorating state of our ocean demonstrates that there’s no room for risk. Shipping can no longer ignore its obligation to ocean health. ZESTAs’ knowledge of technology and markets combined with SASHA’s policy expertise are the winning combination to drive the change needed to protect the ocean and our planet.”

To note, ZESTAs comprises shipping companies involved in zero-emission technologies such as battery, hydrogen, and wind, while the SASHA Coalition, facilitated by the climate non-governmental organization (NGO) Opportunity Green, includes shipping and aviation companies focused on policy support for green hydrogen solutions.

In May 2025, the organizations co-signed a letter urging the European Commission to strengthen the European Union’s (EU’s) green shipping policy “to plug the gaps in the disappointing International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations agreed in April 2025.”

The letter, signed by a total of seven industry bodies and NGOs, called for the EU to:

• introduce financial support mechanisms for e-fuel producers in the upcoming Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP),
• expand the EU maritime ETS to emissions from ships under 5,000 GT,
• strengthen the FuelEU Maritime targets, and
• continue pushing for “ambitious policy” at the IMO, focusing on incentivizing uptake of the lowest emission solutions and ensuring the stringency of fuel lifecycle emissions methodologies.