Malaysian energy giant Petronas, along with its shipping arm MISC, has signed a term sheet with Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) to create a joint venture to develop liquified carbon dioxide (LCO2) carriers for carbon capture and storage projects around Malaysia.
The three parties have been working on LCO2 carrier designs for many months, which have passed the class approval in principle stage.
MISC president Captain Rajalingam Subramaniam commented: “As a future-focused shipowner, MISC is well-equipped to deliver the technical expertise required for LCO2 shipping, an essential link in the carbon capture and storage value chain. Again, our call to the maritime and other hard-to-abate industries is to collaborate and do just for the betterment of communities. Viable solutions to manage societal emissions are available.”
MOL entered the business of transporting liquefied CO2 by sea in March 2021, when it invested in Larvik Shipping, which has managed industrial liquefied CO2 vessels in Europe for over 30 years. Since then, the company has been looking to develop larger ships to facilitate the needs of this growing sector.