Northern Lights announces the award of a shipbuilding contract to Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co., Ltd (DSOC). The contract covers the construction of Northern Lights’ third CO₂ ship and will cater to existing and new customers.

The third ship will be built at the DSOC shipyard in Dalian, China, where the first two ships are currently under construction. It will share the same characteristics as its sister ships and have a cargo capacity of 7,500 m3. The three ships are the world’s largest dedicated CO₂ ships, custom-built with pressurised cargo tanks for transportation of liquefied CO₂.

The contract award was marked by a signing ceremony at the shipyard on August 30th, attended by Managing Director of Northern Lights, Børre Jacobsen.

“We are very pleased to announce that we are increasing our shipping capacity. Our shipping solution is scalable and provides the necessary flexibility to service industrial emitters across Europe. The award of a ship building contract for a third ship is a response to an increasing demand for cross-border CO₂ transport and storage,” says Jacobsen.

Northern Lights is developing a ship-based CO₂ transport solution running on LNG fuel with a wind-assisted propulsion system and air lubrication. Thanks to these innovative technologies, the ships have a reduced carbon intensity compared to conventional solutions.

The contractor of the first three ships, Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co., Ltd is located in Dalian, Liaoning province, China. The shipyard is one of the leading shipbuilding and offshore EPC contractors in China.

“As the construction base for the world largest and first dedicated CO₂ ships for Northern Lights, DSOC is honored to be the pioneer shipyard in the decarbonisation industry and to directly provide the CO₂ shipping solutions for the increasing business of Northern Lights. Products in clean and environmental protection industry have now become our major strategy. As one of the most competitive offshore yards and the first yard to construct the dedicated CO₂ ships, we have confidence and capability to deliver high quality products to Northern Lights, and build long-term strategic relationships in the upcoming future. DSOC will create more value to our clients by quality services and unremitting efforts.” says Yingzhi Sun, Chairman of DSOC.

Once operational, the ship will load captured and liquefied CO₂ from industrial emitters and transport it to the Northern Lights receiving facilities in Øygarden, Norway. From here, the CO₂ will be intermediately stored in onshore tanks before transported through a pipeline to an offshore reservoir for permanent and safe storage at 2,600 m depth under the seabed. 

Facts about the ship 

• Capacity: 7,500 m3
• Two cylindrical cargo tanks
• Length: 130 meters
• Cargo transport conditions: Approx. 15 bar(g) pressure and -26°C temperature