DNV AiP for LCO2 carrier design

The vessel is tailored for the Asia Pacific market, aiming to enable cost-competitive transport of CO2 for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects.

“This AiP underscores the importance of joint innovation and collaboration in advancing solutions that support the development of the wider CCS value chain,” said Mathias Sørhaug, business development director CO2 shipping, DNV Maritime.

With Asia Pacific countries like Japan, Korea and Singapore actively exploring CCS to decarbonise industries, the demand for transporting large volumes of CO2 is increasing.

This design addresses the need for larger capacity vessels than those planned for European CCS projects, incorporating low-pressure cargo tank designs to reduce transport costs.

“Scale is essential to drive down the cost of CCS and this work demonstrates the feasibility of large CO2 carriers with a low carbon footprint,” said Sørhaug.

The AiP from DNV covers more than 50 documents, focusing on technical challenges for LCO2 carriers. Special emphasis was placed on cargo tank design, material suitability and tank integrity analysis.

The vessel, which mirrors the size of a 174,000 cbm LNG carrier, is designed to be 290 metres long with a 12-metre draft to access major East Asian ports.

It features 15 cylindrical tanks to store LCO2 at -50°C and 6-8 barg. Additionally, the vessel is designed to facilitate future onboard CO2 capture from the main engine exhaust.