Danish joint venture between Evergas and Navigator, Dan-Unity CO2, has said it will be looking for suitable shipyards to build the company’s first vessels capable of large-scale CO2 shipping.
The new vessel designs from TGE Marine of 12,500 cu m and 22,000 cu m have received approval in principle from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), paving the way for the next phase of involving shipbuilders in the process.
By 2025, Dan-Unity CO2 and its Icelandic partner, Carbfix, intend to enable large-scale CO2 emission transport and storage. When operating between the northwest European region and Iceland’s forthcoming Carbfix-operated Coda terminal near Reykjavik, one 22,000 cu m vessel can transport around 500,000 tons of CO2 annually, according to the business.
The Danish Maritime Fund provided the firm with a DKK 2.8m ($425k) grant to help develop the vessel designs. The ships would be purpose-built and would not be compatible with any other trades, requiring longer-term contract commitments to initiate newbuilding projects.
Dan-Unity CO2 was set up by two Danish shipping companies, Evergas and Ultragas before the latter merged with Navigator.  In addition, the firm is a partner in Project Greensand, which aims to validate the technical and commercial viability of CO2 storage in the Danish portion of the North Sea. Dan-Unity CO2 indicated that once in place, it will be able to build the requisite number of vessels utilising one of the new vessel size designs, with a lead time of 27–28 months for building a CO2 vessel.
