Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding have received Approval in Principle for their jointly developed carrier designed to transport liquified CO2 (LCO2) to a methanol plant to be converted into methanol. The company said the ship would be the world’s first LCO2 / methanol carrier and could help advance the supply chain for sustainable maritime fuels.
The approval came from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, a non-profit, non-governmental organization ship classification society also known as ClassNK. It is one of the seven founding members of the International Association of Classification Societies, otherwise known as IACS.
One of the challenges in transitioning to sustainable maritime fuels is lack of a supply chain. Technologies for converting CO2 into fuel or chemical products is a means of CCUS (Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage) that could help realize a supply chain for producing synthetic methanol from captured CO2. Synthetic methanol is expected to serve as one of the marine fuels that will contribute to decarbonization in the maritime shipping industry.
The vessel for which Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and MOL acquired AiP is based on a low-pressure LCO2 carrier. Normally, the use of dedicated vessels for CO2 or methanol results in one leg of the trip with an empty vessel, which is expensive and inefficient. This new vessel, though, aims to transport CO2, which serves as raw material, on outward voyages and synthetic methanol on return voyages. If dual transport of CO2 and methanol is achieved, empty-cargo trips can be eliminated, thereby improving overall transport efficiency.
MOL and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding will move forward with the development of the LCO2 / methanol carrier, building on the findings and technical challenges identified during the concept study. The goal is to achieve commercialization of the LCO2 / methanol carrier through collaboration with relevant companies in the supply chain and other partners.
The MOL Group is currently working to build supply chains for synthetic fuel/methanol and CO2 through initiatives such as its investment in HIF Global LLC, a U.S.-based company that develops, produces and transports synthetic fuel/methanol across North and South America and Australia.
