MOL charters two vessels for Northern Lights carbon capture project

The long-term deals support project expansion by 2028.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has signed long-term charter contracts for two liquefied CO₂ carriers to support the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project, which plans to expand transport and storage capacity to at least 5 million tonnes per year by 2028, according to the company.

The vessels will be owned by MOL and chartered to Northern Lights JV DA, a partnership owned by Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell, under the agreements, the company said.

Northern Lights began full-scale operations in 2025 with a transport and storage capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year, and the additional vessels will support the planned scale-up of cross-border CO₂ transport, according to the project partners.

MOL has also concluded shipbuilding contracts with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for the two vessels, which will be 12,000 cubic metre Ice Class LNG dual-fuel liquefied CO₂ carriers, the company said.

The carriers are expected to begin transporting captured CO₂ around 2028, shipping emissions from sites across Europe to a receiving terminal at Øygarden, Norway, for permanent storage beneath the North Sea seabed, according to the statement.