Emissions capture venture wins pilot project grant at major UK port 

STAX Engineering and Seabound will deliver PortZero at Associated British Ports’ Southampton under a UK Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) award of US$1.5M, according to a STAX statement.

The company said the four-party consortium comprises Seabound, ABP and Lomar Shipping, with the aim of demonstrating an integrated barge-based capture and control system at berth.

STAX said the project, titled Enabling Zero-Emission Ports via Carbon and Air Pollution Capture from Berthed Vessels, will integrate Seabound’s carbon capture unit on a STAX emissions-capture barge.

The objective is to reduce carbon dioxide and pollutants from vessels while alongside.

STAX stated its mobile barge removes up to 99% of particulate matter and 95% of nitrogen oxides, while Seabound’s unit captures up to 95% of carbon dioxide and 90% of sulphur.

The system is scheduled to debut at ABP Southampton with vessels from Lomar Shipping.

STAX engineering chief executive Mike Walker said in a statement that the UK award shows demand for a solution that does not “force ports to choose between operational efficiency and environmental responsibility.”

He added, “Clean air cannot wait, and with this technology, it does not have to.”

ABP head of strategy and sustainability Max Harris said the port operator is “excited to explore the potential of this innovative solution” as it seeks “ever-better air quality at our ports and to support maritime decarbonisation”.

The partners point to an earlier demonstration in Long Beach that linked Seabound’s capture unit to a STAX barge operating alongside a Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship.

Seabound reported the combined system filtered particulate matter and nitrogen oxides and captured carbon dioxide from the vessel’s exhaust, with trial results independently verified by Yorke Engineering. Seabound said the trials formed part of an Advanced Technology Demonstration and Pilot Projects programme funded by CARB and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Seabound co-founder and chief executive Alisha Fredriksson said the collaboration with STAX demonstrates that scaleable emissions solutions can be implemented now and that the companies intend to expand deployment internationally.

The STAX release stated PortZero funding came through the UK Department for Transport’s sixth Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, delivered by Innovate UK.

Alisha Fredriksson and Seabound’s potential was spotted early on by Riviera, and she was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2023 International Tanker Shipping & Trade Conference in Athens.