Northern Lights has added a third liquefied CO2 carrier to its fleet, deepening its role in Europe’s emerging carbon capture and storage market and expanding capacity for cross-border emissions transport.
The vessel, Northern Phoenix, was formally introduced in Bergen and will help move captured CO2 from industrial clients to the project’s onshore terminal in Øygarden. From there, emissions are transported through a subsea pipeline and injected roughly 2,600 meters beneath the North Sea for permanent storage, part of a system designed to handle emissions from across Europe.
The new ship will carry volumes from companies including Yara, adding to a logistics chain that has become central to the project’s growth. Northern Lights, a joint venture between Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, is positioning itself as a backbone for industrial decarbonization.
The project is widely viewed as a test case for a commercial CCS market. It is the world’s first open-access CO2 transport and storage network, allowing third-party emitters to ship carbon for disposal offshore.
Operations began in 2025, with initial storage capacity of 1.5 million tonnes annually already fully booked. Plans are underway to expand that figure to at least 5 million tonnes per year, supported by new infrastructure and transport vessels.
Backed by Norway’s Longship initiative, Northern Lights has also become a knowledge hub for CCS development. Industry participants are using its early operations to refine costs and accelerate deployment, as policymakers look to scale carbon management across hard-to-abate sectors.
The Northern Phoenix is expected to enter service following final commissioning, supporting the launch of commercial CO2 shipping between European countries.
Read more: Northern Lights Orders Four More CO2 Ships
