Leading shipbuilders in Japan have joined forces to design a liquified CO2 carrier, with the goal of finishing construction by 2027.
With a growing number of carbon capture and storage projects expected in Asia, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Nihon Shipyard are looking to establish a shipbuilding framework to meet the demand for vessels facilitating the large-scale transport of liquified carbon dioxide.
A shipbuilding arm of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been actively pursuing commercialisation of liquified CO2 carriers through multiple domestic and overseas collaborations, along with the construction of a demonstration test ship, one of many slated to hit the oceans in the coming years.
Nihon Shipyard, a joint venture between Japan’s two largest shipbuilders, Imabari Shipbuilding and Japan Marine United, on the other hand has been proactively working toward the commercialisation of LNG and ammonia-fueled ships and will, moving forward, explore adding CO2 ships to the mix in the next few years.
Liquified CO2 carriers will be key to accommodating the expected surge in transported CO2 volumes for geological storage triggered by the acceleration of net zero carbon targets worldwide and to meet world industrial emitters’ needs. The partners have not disclosed any potential design details of the vessel, which is expected to be built by Nihon and most likely feature a larger carrying capacity. Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (DSIC) in China is currently building 7,500 cu m LNG-powered, wind-assisted CO2 ships for the Northern Lights joint venture in Europe, set to enter service some three years ahead of their Japanese-built counterparts.
