Two of Asia’s leading economies, Japan and South Korea, have independently started working on creating a CO2 tanker to transport liquid carbon dioxide.
On South Korea’s part, the initiative was launched by steelmaker Posco along with four other partners, including Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry and Lloyd’s Register Asia.
According to Posco, these efforts are aimed at trying to take the lead in the global transition to a net-zero economy.
The agreement was signed on Friday, August 27th and it sets the estimated launch date to be by 2025. It also outlines the specific duties of each of the five sides.
Postco, as the nation’s biggest steel firm, will develop and provide the steel for the tank that will contain the liquefied CO2. The two shipbuilding companies, Korea Shipbuilding and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, will, in turn, be in charge of designing and building the vessel that is said to have at least 20,000 cubic meters of cargo capacity.
Relevant: Here Is How South Korea Plans To Support Carbon Capture Utilization And Storage
And lastly, Lloyd’s and the Liberian registry will handle regulation, certification, as well as the ship’s registration process.
With this project Posco hopes to also set the standard for building such carriers for the entire industry.
Japanese CO2 Tanker Competition
But not too far away, in Japan, Mitsubishi Shipbuilding is also working on developing such technologies. And for the purpose, the Japanese giant has partnered up with TotalEnergies to study the feasibility of launching its own liquefied CO2 carrier.
As more and more companies push towards achieving net-zero emissions, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, to which Mitsubishi Shipbuilding belongs, is also heavily vested in achieving climate targets and achieving a decarbonized society.
And liquefied CO2 carriers are already playing a critical role in the transport of captured CO2 emissions, with expectations for demand to grow.
Relevant: CO2 Shipping Transport Gains Popularity
TotalEnergies is also pleased to have the opportunity to work on this project together with MHI Group, as the project lines up perfectly with its own climate ambitions that include reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
President of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Toru Kitamura pointed out in his statement that liquid carbon dioxide carrier tankers are certainly an important part of “achieving a decarbonised world”. And as such, MHI Group will continue to pursue the development of this solution in an attempt to aid the establishment of the carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCS) value chain.
