Northern Lights Orders Four New CO? Carriers in Major CCS Expansion

Northern Lights has awarded long-term charter agreements for four new liquid CO? transport vessels, marking a major expansion of its shipping fleet as European demand for carbon capture and storage (CCS) services accelerates.

The Equinor–TotalEnergies–Shell joint venture said one charter has been awarded to a consortium of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” LINE) and MISC Berhad, with a second vessel to follow in April 2026. Two additional charters have been awarded to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).

The first three vessels will each have a cargo capacity of 12,000 cubic meters, significantly larger than Northern Lights’ existing 7,500-cubic-meter fleet. The ships will be owned by K LINE, MISC, and MOL, and built by Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co. (DSOC) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).

Deliveries are scheduled between the second half of 2028 and the first half of 2029, supporting Northern Lights’ plan to scale its transport and storage capacity beyond 5 million tonnes of CO? annually.

“We are pleased to significantly grow our transport capacity by adding vessels to our existing Northern Lights fleet,” said Managing Director Tim Heijn. “With an expanded fleet, we will be able to deliver on our commitments to customers while optimizing operations and increasing flexibility.”

Heijn said the expansion also reflects growing confidence in the emerging CCS shipping market. “Together we are pioneers in building the first dedicated CO? shipping fleet. This experience will benefit Northern Lights, our customers, and the CCS industry for years to come,” he said.

The move builds on Northern Lights’ initial operations, which began in late 2024 with the delivery of three sister ships — Northern Pioneer, Northern Pathfinder, and Northern Phoenix. A fourth identical vessel, owned and operated by Bernhard Schulte, is scheduled for delivery in 2026.

Northern Lights injected its first volumes of liquefied CO? for permanent offshore storage in August 2025. The service transports captured CO? to an onshore terminal in western Norway, where it is piped to a subsea reservoir some 2,600 meters beneath the seabed.

In addition to Norwegian customers Heidelberg Materials and Hafslund Celsio, the company has signed commercial agreements with Yara in the Netherlands, Ørsted in Denmark, and Stockholm Exergi in Sweden.

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