Bernard Schulte have chosen to construct the newbuilding at the Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore (DSOC) location. The aim for this new project is to create a newbuilding which includes the technologies required to significantly reduce its carbon footprint. These technologies will be shown in the use of the ship’s first CO2 tanker.

The technology is expected to be delivered in 2026 and this project has been created with a commitment to becoming a long-term charter agreement with Northern Lights. It will also provide support to the development of the world’s first cross-border CO2 transport and storage infrastructure.

This innovative new ship will be the first ship of its kind for Bernard Schulte’s fleet and will be the fourth CO2 carrier for Northern Lights. This new ship is a joint venture between three separate companies who have also already ordered three vessels. Two of these vessels are already in the construction phase at DSOC and the companies have also made another order which will arrive in September. The companies who jointly own this project include Shell, TotalEnergies and Equinor.

These ships are being developed as Northen Lights is creating a ship based CO2 transport solution and has therefore added innovative technologies into the body of the ship in order to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions, produced during shipping. On top of this, the fuel which the ships will predominantly use will be LNG, which once combined with other proven technologies including wind-assisted rotor sail and air lubrication, will result in the ships carbon footprint being reduced by 34%. This is an excellent improvement compared to regular ships which still run on marine fuel. All four ships which are being created in this project, have the same vessel design and include a 7,500 m3 cargo capacity, plus two cylindrical cargo tanks. They will be able to transport the carbon cargo at a maximum of 19 bar(g) pressure and minimum -35 degrees Celsius. These ships will also be custom-built for transportation of liquefied carbon dioxide and will be able to safely transport this CO2 from Northern Lights’ customers across Northwest Europe and to the Øygarden, the receiving terminal in Norway. Once at this terminal, the CO2 will be permanently stored in the available geological storage space.

CEO of Bernhard Schulte, Ian Beveridge, commented, “Ordering this vessel is an exciting step in the expansion of Bernhard Schulte’s fleet portfolio in an innovative future tanker segment. We are looking forward to becoming part of Northern Lights industry leading project to provide CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. We are furthermore delighted to have Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore as our selected partner in this endeavour. The Schulte Group has long-standing relationships with Chinese shipyards, which is a strong foundation for this outstanding project.”

Managing Director of Northern Lights, Børre Jacobsen, mentioned, “This deal marks another major milestone for us. CCS is a safe and efficient way to handle emissions and it is critical to meet climate targets. We are excited to see Bernhard Schulte now entering the Liquid CO2 business, as strong partnerships are required to succeed. We have strong belief in the tripart collaboration between Northern Lights JV, DSOC and Bernhard Schulte.”

President of DSOC, Yingzhi Sun, added, “As the most experienced offshore yard in China, we are glad to form such first-ever cooperation relationship with Bernhard Schulte and jointly provide our services to contribute Northern Lights CCS projects. DSOC is confident to deliver the vessel on time with highest quality and HSE standards. It is indeed a great honour to be part of this collaboration by providing our Liquefied CO2 transportation solutions.”