A groundbreaking carbon capture initiative led by Singapore’s Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has wrapped up in China, marking the first successful demonstration of a complete maritime carbon capture and utilization process.
The project unfolded in two major phases. In the initial stage, 25.44 metric tons of liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) were transferred at sea from the container ship Ever Top to the receiving vessel Dejin 26, which is operated by Shanghai Qiyao Environmental Technology (SMDERI-QET).
The Dejin 26 later delivered the CO2 to shore at a jetty in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, where it was moved onto a tank truck for overland transport.
The Ever Top had been fitted in 2024 with a cutting-edge onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) unit developed by the Shanghai Marine Diesel Engine Research Institute, a division of China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
This system captures more than 80% of the vessel’s carbon dioxide emissions, delivering the gas at an ultra-high purity level of 99.9%. Crucially, it also enables at-sea liquefaction and transfer, eliminating the dependence on specialised port facilities and increasing the flexibility of CO2 handling.
The second part of the project, coordinated by GCMD, involved transporting the captured CO2 over 1,240 miles to Inner Mongolia. There, it was used at a joint GreenOre–Baotou Steel facility to manufacture low-carbon calcium carbonate, an important component in environmentally friendly construction products.
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This trial marked the first time that CO2 captured from a ship was tracked across the entire chain—from onboard capture to industrial reuse.
A significant hurdle was regulatory classification. Initially labelled as hazardous waste, the CO2 was redefined as hazardous cargo after consultation with authorities, enabling it to be processed instead of discarded.
GCMD emphasized that this pilot shows how maritime carbon capture technology can plug directly into industrial decarbonization strategies, especially through CO2 mineralization processes that help reduce emissions from traditional cement manufacturing.
Read more: GCMD Study Highlights Potential Of Onboard Carbon Capture
