MOL to charter two LNG dual-fuel LCO2 carriers for Northern Lights

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has secured a long-term charter agreement with Northern Lights for two new liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carriers.

IMAGE: Concept image of the CO2 receiving terminal in Norway. Northern Lights

Northern Lights is a carbon capture and storage joint venture between global oil companies – Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies.

The two 12,000-cbm LCO2 carriers will be dual-fuel vessels, capable of running on LNG as well as conventional marine fuels.

They will be built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). Starting from 2028, the vessels will transport CO2 collected across Europe to the Øygarden terminal on Norway’s west coast.

The CO2 will then be “exported via a 100-kilometer subsea pipeline and permanently stored about 2,600 meters beneath the seabed of the North Sea,” MOL said.

Northern Lights plans to expand its CO2 transport and storage capacity to a minimum of 5 million mt/year by 2028.

It has also entered a charter agreement with a consortium of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K LINE) and MISC Berhad for a newbuild LCO2 carrier, which will be followed by a second vessel contract in April 2026.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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