K Line and MISC nab promised second charter in Northern Lights' four-vessel expansion

Oil major-backed Northern Lights has completed the final charter agreement for a series of four newbuild liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) carriers that the JV announced in January 2026.

Japan’s Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) and Malaysia’s MISC Berhad (MISC) were awarded the charter, as promised on the newbuilding contract that was initially expected to have been finalised in April 2026.

The Northern Lights joint venture, made up of oil majors Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell, said the final vessel design and capacity for the final newbuild in the series will match the first three vessels – those already contracted out on charters.

Each will have a 12,000-m³ cargo capacity and are to be delivered between H2 2028 and H1 2029. Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co will build the final confirmed vessel, splitting the newbuilding contracts evenly with two going to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.

In its January announcement, Northern Lights said Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) had won charter contracts for two of Northern Lights’ new LCO2 carriers, while the two-business consortium made up of K Line, and Malaysia International Shipping Corp won the charter for one new LCO2 transport vessel.

A contract signing ceremony for Phase 2 of Northern Lights was held on 4 March in Øygarden, Norway, to mark the signing of a time charter contract and a shipbuilding contract for a 12,000-m³ liquefied CO2 carrier, as reported by stakeholder K Line.

The long-term time charter agreements awarded from the Northern Lights JV are for the cross-border transport of CO2 from commercial customers in Europe. The joint venture said the vessels would meet the needs of an expansion project it green-lit in August 2025 that will increase the site’s transport and storage capacity to more than 5M tonnes of CO2 per year. 

“With an expanded fleet, we will be able to deliver on our commitments to our customers. It will also enable us to optimise operations and increase flexibility. We are happy to continue working with our existing partners on shipping and to bring in new partners. This demonstrates a further maturation of the market, increasing the number of participants,” Northern Lights joint venture managing director Tim Heijn said at the time.

From late 2024, Northern Lights has taken delivery of four 7,500-m³ capacity sister ships. In May 2026, Northern Lights christened the fourth 7,500-m³ ship in China. That vessel will be owned and operated by Bernhard Schulte, a part of the Schulte Group.

The first three vessels, Northern Pioneer, Northern Pathfinder and Northern Phoenix, round out the vessels for phase 1 development in the Norwegian government project. The three vessels are managed by K Line.

Also in August 2025, CO2 storage at Northern Lights began with the first operations to sequester cargoes, transporting them through the site’s 100-km pipeline and injecting them into the Aurora reservoir, located 2,600 m beneath the seabed of the Norwegian North Sea.