The Koreans are getting in on the CO2 carrier bandwagon. Steelmaking giant Posco has teamed with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and its parent Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering along with Lloyd’s Register and the Liberian registry to develop a liquid carbon dioxide carrier tanker. The team aim to launch a 20,000 cu m CO2 carrier by 2025.
“With partner firms, Posco will open a new, green era by developing the world’s first, large-scale liquid CO2 tanker,” said Kim Sang-chul, who heads Posco’s energy and shipbuilding marketing office.
In neighbouring Japan, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) rolled out plans earlier this year to commercialise a CO2 carrier design by 2025. Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), two of Japan’s largest shipping lines, are part of a different team setting out to design larger liquefied CO2 carriers.
In Denmark, Evergas and Ultragas joined forces this May in a joint venture called Dan-Unity CO2 to start shipping carbon dioxide. Dan-Unity CO2 is now working on developing a cargo tank design and system for semi-ref gas carriers several times larger than the few smaller CO2 carriers in operation today.
