Germany’s Bernhard Schulte is now entering the liquid CO2 business with a fourth in line order.
The ship owning business of family-owned Schulte Group with a diversified fleet of 80 fully or partly owned vessels, has contracted Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore (DSOC) for a 7,500 m3 liquid CO2 carrier newbuild backed by a time charter deal with Northern Lights.
The LNG dual-fuel ship, with wind-assisted rotor sail and air lubrications, will be the fourth in line to the sister ships currently under construction at Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore.
The fourth CO2 Northern Lights ship will be owned and operated by Bernhard Schulte.
All four ships will have a cargo capacity of 7,500 m3 and their primary fuel will be LNG.
Combined with other technologies, such as wind-assisted rotor sail and air lubrication, the ships will have around 34% lower carbon footprint compared to conventional ships running on marine fuel.
They will transport CO2 from Northern Lights’ customers across Northwest Europe to the CO2 receiving terminal at Øygarden, Norway before permanent geological storage.
Børre Jacobsen, managing director of Northern Lights, said: “This deal marks another major milestone for us. CCS is a safe and efficient way to handle emissions and it is critical to meet climate targets. We are excited to see Bernhard Schulte now entering the Liquid CO2 business, as strong partnerships are required to succeed. We have strong belief in the tripart collaboration between Northern Lights JV, DSOC and Bernhard Schulte.”
Ian Beveridge, chief executive of Bernhard Schulte, noted: “Ordering this vessel is an exciting step in the expansion of Bernhard Schulte’s fleet portfolio in an innovative future tanker segment. We are looking forward to becoming part of Northern Lights industry leading project to provide CO² transport and storage infrastructure.
“We are furthermore delighted to have Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore as our selected partner in this endeavour. The Schulte Group has long-standing relationships with Chinese shipyards, which is a strong foundation for this outstanding project.”
