The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has given preliminary approval to a consortium of global shipping organizations and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) to use a carbon capture system onboard an oil tanker.
The REMARCCABLE project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using carbon capture onboard a vessel. Approval in principle allows the consortium to consider whether the project will move to the next stage, which includes engineering, procurement and construction. Its seven-member consortium includes the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD) in Singapore, OGCI, Stena Bulk, ABS, Alfa Laval, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and Deltamarin Ltd.
Following a full engineering study, the carbon capture system will be built and tested prior to integration onboard a Stena Bulk medium range (MR) tanker for sea trials. A rigorous stage gate review process will be conducted prior to progression between stages.
The two-year, three-phase demonstration project is investigating onboard capture and storage and offloading captured carbon dioxide to address the operational challenges and opportunities of deploying carbon capture technology on ships.
The consortium began the first phase of Project REMARCCABLE (Realising Maritime Carbon Capture to demonstrate the Ability to Lower Emissions) in 2022, which involved conceptual design and a front-end engineering design study of the carbon capture system.
The second phase would include engineering, procurement, and construction of a prototype shipboard carbon capture system and onshore commissioning. Phase three focuses on integrating the carbon capture system with the MR tanker and conducting sea trials.
The GCMD plans to launch a study on offloading the liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) to resolve potential challenges and inform the third phase of the project.
The global shipping industry is looking at a range of solutions, including low-carbon fuels and onboard carbon capture, to help achieve a target to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from a baseline of 2008. The consortium’s members believe the onboard carbon capture system could help accelerate commercial deployment of shipboard carbon capture technology within the next five years.
As we move towards deployment, OGCI will continue to provide expertise on carbon capture to help our partners show the potential of the technology to meet ambitious decarbonisation goals set by the maritime industry.
…said Michael Traver, head of OGCI’s Transport workstream
Decarbonisation demands the development of a wide range of emission-reducing technologies and we want to facilitate their development by collaborating with the maritime industry and helping reduce vessels’ carbon footprint.
…said Sameer Kalra, President of the Marine Division at Alfa Laval
Panos Koutsourakis, ABS Vice President, Global Sustainability, stated that the project is a milestone for onboard carbon capture technology, with significant potential to accelerate the pace of commercial applications
We are excited that Project REMARCCABLE has obtained the approval in principle from ABS. This marks a significant project milestone and paves the way for the eventual shipboard installation of a scrubber and trialling it at sea.
…said Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD
Mia Elg, R&D Manager at Deltamarin, said that they are very pleased with the great collaboration we have had during the project so far, which is essential both for ensuring good performance of the system onboard and for the entire design and retrofit process.
It is fantastic be able to receive this AIP from ABS and move forward towards installing a CCUS system on one of our Medium Range tankers. Advancing carbon capture is one of the central ways that shipping will be able to meet its decarbonisation goals.
…said Erik Hånell, CEO of Stena Bulk is.
