Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and NYK obtain AiP for large LCO2 vessels

LCO2 vessels store and transport liquefied CO2 gas at low temperature and high pressure in a cargo tank system. Since the design of the cargo tank system largely depends on the temperature and pressure conditions of the liquefied CO2 gas, increasing the size of the system and hull is an important technological development issue to achieve mass transportation at scale.

Mitsubishi and NYK jointly developed an LCO2 design to address this issue, and the feasibility and compliance were confirmed for each cargo tank system and hull section, taking into account different tank pressure settings for medium and large vessels, leading to the granting of the AiP.

MHI Group said it is working to strengthen the energy transition business, and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding is promoting the development and commercialisation of LCO2 carriers. MHI believes the AiP will make a significant contribution towards realising this strategy.

Based on the design of the LCO2 carrier granted the AiP, NYK Line said it will work on LCO2 designs for even larger vessels.

NYK Line also established a venture with Norway’s Knutsen Group for the commercial development of a liquefied CO2 marine transport business. Other recent announcements on liquid CO2 transport include the Northern Lights project between Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies – placing an order at China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corp to build two carriers and type-approval for a new 40,000-m³ LCO2 carrier designed by KSOE and HHI.