Northern Lights JV announced via social media on January 29 that it has awarded a charter agreement to a consortium of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE), and MISC Berhad for one new liquid CO₂ transport vessel. A second vessel will be awarded to the same consortium in April 2026. Further, two charter agreements have been awarded to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. for two new CO₂ transport vessels.
The three first vessels awarded will each have a 12,000 m3 cargo capacity.
The long-term time charter agreements are for cross-border transport of CO₂ from commercial customers in Europe. Increased transport capacity of Northern Lights aligns with signed customer agreements and the expansion project to increase the transport and storage capacity to more than 5 million tonnes CO₂ per year. The long-term agreements follow a global tender process initiated by Northern Lights JV.
The new ships will be owned by the shipping companies “K” LINE, MISC Berhad, and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.
Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co. Ltd (DSOC) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. LTD (HHI) will construct the vessels. The newbuilds are to be delivered for start-up of charter services to Northern Lights in the period from second half of 2028 to first half of 2029.
“We are pleased to significantly grow our transport capacity by adding vessels to our existing Northern Lights fleet. Northern Lights is set up to offer transport and storage services to industrial emitters in Europe looking to decarbonise. 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. Together we are pioneers in building the first dedicated CO₂ shipping fleet. This experience will benefit Northern Lights, our customers and the CCS industry for the years to come”, says Tim Heijn, Managing Director in Northern Lights.
Since late 2024 Northern Lights has taken delivery of the vessels Northern Pioneer, the Northern Pathfinder and the Northern Phoenix, which are three newbuilt 7,500 m3 capacity sister ships as part of the phase 1 development in the Norwegian Government’s Longship project and following agreements with first commercial customers. The three vessels are managed by “K” LINE.
A fourth identical ship for charter to Northern Lights is under completion and will be delivered in 2026. It will be owned and operated by Bernhard Schulte, a part of the Schulte Group.
The four sister ships have been built and delivered by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC) and Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co., Ltd (DSOC).
About Northern Lights
Northern Lights offers CO₂ transport and storage as a service and started first injection of liquid CO₂ for permanent storage in August 2025. Liquefied CO₂ from capture sites is shipped to our onshore receiving terminal in western Norway, before transported by pipeline for permanent storage in a reservoir 2,600 meters under the seabed.
Northern Lights JV is a registered, incorporated General Partnership with Shared Liability (DA) owned by Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell. The first phase of Northern Lights is part of Longship, the Norwegian Government’s full-scale carbon capture and storage project. Northern Lights will transport and store CO₂ from two Norwegian industries; Heidelberg Materials’ cement factory in Brevik and the Hafslund Celsio’ waste-to-energy plant in Oslo.
In addition, the Northern Lights JV has signed commercial agreements with Yara in the Netherlands, Ørsted in Denmark, and Stockholm Exergi in Sweden.