Japanese Consortium Readying to Meet LCO2 Carrier Demand

August 26, 2024

Illustration - Mitsui O.S.K Lines in June received in-principle approvals for a liquefied CO2 vessel and a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) from the American Bureau of Shipping. - CG rendering shows offloading CO2 from LCO2 carrier to LCO2 FSO and injection unit. - ©Mitsui OSK

“K” Line, MOL and NYK Line have commenced a joint study with a group of Japanese shipyards for the design and specification of LCO2 carriers and the development of a supporting construction supply chain.

The companies believe that as the demand for LCO2 carriers is expected to grow to support projects that transport CO2 collected in Japan to storage sites by sea, it is necessary to build LCO2 carriers stably within Japan. This will help realize the CCS value chain for Japan and improve the economic efficiency of the projects.

The shipyards participating in the study are Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, Imabari Shipbuilding, JMU and Nihon Shipyard, but the study will aim to enable construction at other Japanese yards as well.

Last year, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Nihon Shipyard signed an MoU with Mitsui & Co to study LCO2 carriers for large-scale international transportation. MOL also agreed to consider a potential joint venture with Petronas CCS Ventures and MISC Berhad for developing LCO2 carriers for CCS projects in Malaysia. MOL has already received in-principle approvals for an LCO2 carrier and floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) from ABS.