The Northern Pioneer is the world’s first commercial liquefied CO2 transport ship, and with its arrival, the final piece of the Northern Lights value chain has fallen into place. The 130-meter-long ship can transport 8,000 tonnes of liquid CO2 and is ready for operations this year.

“This marks another significant milestone in building the world’s largest dedicated CO2 shipping fleet and demonstrates Northern Lights’ commitment to building a reliable value chain to support Europe’s decarbonisation goals”, says Tim Heijn, Managing Director of Northern Lights JV.

Northern Pioneer received blessings from her godmother Tina Bru – a Stavanger citizen and former Minister of Petroleum and Energy when the Longship project was proposed to the Norwegian Parliament in 2019.

The ship, which was delivered in November this year, will play a crucial role in safely transporting liquefied CO2 from industrial capture sites in Europe to the Northern Lights receiving terminal in Øygarden, Norway.

The ship is the first in line of four sister ships that are custom designed for CO2 transport. It will be registered in Norway and managed by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE).

Next stop for the Northern Pioneer is the CO2 receiving facilities in Øygarden for commissioning.

 

About Northern Lights JV 

Northern Lights offers CO2 transport and storage as a service. Our mission is enabling reduction and removal of European industrial emissions.

Liquefied CO2 from capture sites is shipped to an onshore receiving terminal in western Norway, before transported by pipeline for permanent storage in a reservoir 2,600 metres under the seabed.

Ready to receive CO2 since 2024, Northern Lights is the first company to offer commercial CCS services. The company has already signed two commercial agreements with Yara in the Netherlands and Ørsted in Denmark.

Northern Lights JV DA is a registered, incorporated General Partnership with Shared Liability (DA) owned by Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell.