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• Structure characteristics of shipboard DC zonal electric distribution system. • Challenges in protection design about speed, selectivity and reliability. • Breaker coordination addressed from transverse and longitudinal directions. • Protection scheme based on the additional bus inductance. • Effectiveness and applicability in breaker failures and different operation modes. The shipboard DC zonal electric distribution system (DC ZEDS) has seen a recent explosion of interest for its high reliability and strong survivability. With multiple sources and zones, however, the complicated structure brings challenges to its protection design, in which the breaker coordination is one of the key issues. In this regard, this paper proposes a protection scheme based on the additional bus inductance (ABI) for the shipboard DC ZEDS, which meets the requirements on speed, selectivity and reliability in shipboard protection. The breaker configuration is analyzed based on the structure characteristics of DC ZEDS, and the breaker coordination is addressed from transverse and longitudinal directions. The ABI assists shipboard protection in identifying faults in different zones, improving operation speed and lessening fault severity. A reasonable simulation model has been built, in which breaker failures and different operation modes are considered. Simulation results are shown to verify the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed protection scheme. The sizing of the ABI is discussed in the paper to provide theoretical basis for engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]