Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), two of Japan’s largest shipping lines, are part of a team setting out to design larger liquefied CO2 carriers.

The Japanese government has been backing the nation’s development of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), carbon dioxide capture and utilisation(CCU) and carbon recycling over the past two years, something that will soon require the need for CO2 transport due to the great distances between CO2 emission sources and storage areas.

Other companies involved in the research and development of the CO2 carrier include Nippon Steel and Itochu Corporation.

MOL entered the liquefied CO2 ocean transport business this year by investing in Norway-based Larvik Shipping while K Line has been carrying out pioneering carbon capture technology at sea over the past year.

Currently, the maximum capacity for transporting liquefied CO2 is approximately 3,600 cu m, or roughly 1,770 tonnes in dedicated CO2 tankers predominantly with specialist operators such as Larvik leading the way.