Northern Lights Expands CO2 Fleet

Northern Lights JV has awarded a charter agreement to a consortium of “K” Line and MISC Berhad initially for one new liquid CO₂ transport vessel. A second vessel will be awarded to the same consortium in April 2026. Further, two charter agreements have been awarded to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines for two new CO₂ transport vessels.

The three first vessels awarded will each have a 12,000 m3 cargo capacity.

The long-term time charter agreements are for cross-border transport of CO₂ from commercial customers in Europe. Increased transport capacity of Northern Lights aligns with signed customer agreements and the expansion project to increase the transport and storage capacity to more than 5 million tonnes CO₂ per year.

Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will construct the vessels. The newbuilds are to be delivered for start-up of charter services to Northern Lights in the period from second half of 2028 to first half of 2029.

Since late 2024 Northern Lights has taken delivery of the vessels Northern Pioneer, the Northern Pathfinder and the Northern Phoenix, which are three newbuilt 7,500 m3 capacity sister ships as part of the phase 1 development in the Norwegian Government’s Longship project and following agreements with first commercial customers. The three vessels are managed by “K” Line.

A fourth identical ship for charter to Northern Lights is under completion and will be delivered in 2026. It will be owned and operated by Bernhard Schulte, a part of the Schulte Group.

The four sister ships have been built and delivered by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry and Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore.