First CO2 carrier for Norwegian carbon storage project complete

Norwegian CO2 transport and storage joint venture Northern Lights has announced its first CO2 carrier, Northern Pioneer, is ready for delivery from Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC).

The 130 m-long tanker is the first of four CO2 transport ships ordered by Northern Lights in 2021, two of which are being built at Dalian. The ship has a capacity of 7,500 cu m of liquefied CO2, which will be carried at up to 19 bar and -35°C.

The ship is LNG-fuelled and comes fitted with rotor sails by Norsepower for wind-assisted propulsion and air lubrication technology to increase fuel efficiency. North Lights said the ship will be registered in Norway and managed by K Line.

The fleet of CO2 carriers will be employed shipping liquefied CO2 from capture sites in Europe to the Northern Lights receiving terminal in Øygarden, Norway, for long-term storage underground.

“This is a great moment for Northern Lights and the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) industry. Today we celebrate that the full CO2 transport and storage chain of Northern Lights is ready. Northern Pioneer and her sister ships will enable flexible and scalable CO2 transport across Europe”, said Northern Lights managing director Tim Heijn.

DSIC will also deliver Northern Pathfinder, and two further ships are being built by Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Company (DSOC).

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“We take great pride in designing and constructing the world’s first ship for commercial CO2 transport. The delivery of this ship will establish DSIC as a pioneer in CO2 transportation solutions, and we remain committed to collaborating with Northern Lights to realise their CCS objectives”, said Lin Jiming, Vice President of DSIC.