Northern Lights fleet ready for phase one as fourth LCO2 carrier arrives from China

The vessel fleet required for first phase operations of the Northern Lights CO2 project in Norway has been completed with the arrival of the fourth liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) carrier from China.

Northern Purpose, custom-designed to transport liquefied CO2 as part of the world’s first cross-border CO2 transport and storage infrastructure, was built at China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co. (DSOC) and was christened on May 19.

Following delivery from Dalian, the vessel sailed from Asia to Europe and, as reported today, July 29, has arrived in Norway to support upcoming customer operations. 

The 130-meter-long Northern Purpose is equipped with an LNG dual-fuel propulsion system, a wind-assisted rotor sail and an air lubrication system for lower CO2 emissions.

It is the fourth vessel delivered to Northern Lights, following Northern Pioneer, Northern Pathfinder and Northern Phoenix. The sister vessels have the same design and a cargo capacity of 7,500 m3 each, distributed across two cylindrical pressure tanks.

They will transport CO2 from European emitters to Northern Lights’ CO2 receiving terminal at Øygarden, before it is permanently stored beneath the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

“With the arrival of Northern Purpose, we have completed the vessel fleet required for Phase 1 operations. This is an important milestone for Northern Lights to ensure reliable and flexible CO2 transport and storage services to our customers across Europe,” said Tim Heijn, Managing Director of Northern Lights JV. 

To remind, Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies injected and stored the first CO2 volumes as part of the Northern Lights project in August 2025, marking the start of operations of what is said to be the world’s first third-party CO2 transport and storage facility.

The project’s first phase is part of Longship, the Norwegian Government’s full-scale carbon capture and storage project (CCS).

Northern Lights, the joint venture (JV) encompassing the three European oil majors, announced in January charter deals with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and a consortium between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) and MISC for four more CO2 vessels.