Northern Lights JV has announced that the first in a fleet of four CO2 transport ships is ready for delivery at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC) in Dalian, China.
It is part of the largest dedicated CO2 shipping fleet globally.
Northern Lights is the first company to offer commercial CO2 transport and storage as a service.
The CO2 receiving facility in Øygarden, Norway, was completed in September and is now ready to receive CO2 from Norwegian and European industries.
The new Northern Pioneer vessel, the first of its kind, is custom designed to safely transport liquefied CO2 from capture sites in Europe to the Northern Lights receiving terminal.
“This is a great moment for Northern Lights and the 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.
The 130-metre-long, 21-metre-wide vessel has cargo capacity to transport 7500 m3 of C02 at a maximum of 19 bar(g) pressure and minimum -35°C temperature.
The vessel is fuelled primarily by LNG and uses low-carbon technologies such as a wind-assisted rotor sail and air lubrication.
Northern Pioneer, and her sister ship the Northern Pathfinder, which is currently under construction, are built by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC), a leading shipbuilding group in China.
The yard was awarded the shipbuilding contract in 2021 after an extensive global tendering process. Two additional ships are being built by Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co (DSOC).
The ship will be registered in Norway and managed by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line).
“With our extensive knowledge and experience in the operation of various liquefied gas carriers, the K Line Group is determined to work together to contribute to Europe’s decarbonisation through safe and reliable liquefied CO2 transportation,” said K Line president and CEO, Yukikazu Myochin.
