Seatrium refit of LR1 is Japan's first onboard carbon capture system

Seatrium said it had successfully delivered a refit LR1 tanker, which the company said is the first Japanese vessel to have a commercially installed CO2 capture system. 

Seatrium was contracted to retrofit a Filtree onboard carbon capture system (OCCS) from Value Maritime on Mitsui OSK Lines’ (MOL) LR1 product tanker Nexus Victoria. 

"Over the past few months, our team has worked closely with Mitsui OSK Lines in the planning, design, detailed engineering, procuring, upgrading of electrical and automation systems and integration of a CO2 capture system," Seatrium said. "This retrofit is a notable step forward in the shipping industry’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and enhance sustainability. We thank Mitsui OSK Lines for entrusting Seatrium with this milestone project." 

Singapore’s Seatrium was also contracted to supply the basic design, detailed engineering, procurement, upgrading electrical and automation systems, and integrating the 7-MW carbon capture, compression and storage system on a year-long pilot of the world’s first full-scale OCCS. The retrofit project is for Norwegian shipowner Solvang ASA’s semi-refrigerated/ethylene carrier Clipper Eris.

In announcing the pilot, Norwegian shipowner Solvang ASA’s chief executive Edvin Endresen called the OCCS “a significant shortcut to decarbonisation.”

Solvang, which received funding from ENOVA SF to kickstart the pilot in 2023, is a firm believer in OCCS technology. Riding on the pilot’s success are potential additional installations of the technology in Solvang’s gas carrier fleet. The shipowner has seven new vessels under construction, all designed and ready for OCCS technology to be installed.

Plans call for the amine-based cleaning technology supplied by Wärtsilä to capture nearly 70% of CO2 emitted in the exhaust gas from the gas carrier’s two-stroke, slow-speed main engine. Once captured, the CO2 is liquefied and stored in tanks on deck for discharge for sequestration or use.

At the end of 2024, Clipper Eris was in drydock in Singapore for the retrofit for a few months. The vessel was berthed at Seatrium Admiralty Yard as of 18 January, according to vessel positioning service provider Vessel Tracker.

After losses for eight consecutive years, Singapore’s Seatrium returned to profitability in 2024, posting a net profit of S$157M (US$118M) for fiscal year 2024. Commenting on the results, chief executive for the maritime and offshore engineering and construction heavyweight, Chris Ong, said Seatrium is “heartened to have turned the corner,” noting “industry tailwinds” carried Seatrium to a return to profitability and a robust orderbook.

The orderbook comprises 27 projects with deliveries that stretch into 2031. During FY 2024, Seatrium signed orders worth S$15.2Bn pushing its backlog to a “decade-high” S$23.2Bn – a 43% increase year-on-year. One project, an order for a new heavy-lift vessel for Japan’s Penta-Ocean Construction signed in FY 2025, was included in the orderbook. Reflecting growth in investment in the energy transition, the value of orders for “green/cleaner solutions” and renewable projects grew to S$7.9Bn, up from S$6.3Bn in 2023.