On August 9, a steel cutting ceremony was held for the first of a series of four 22,000 cbm Liquefied Carbon Dioxide (LCO2) carriers to be built by HD Hyundai Mipo for the Greek shipping company Capital Gas Ship Management Corp (Capital Gas), which is the world’s largest-capacity LCO2 carriers to date.
Capital Gas has ordered 22,000 m3 LCO2 carriers from HD Hyundai Mipo in July 2023 (2 units) and February 2024 (2 units), with a total order value of approximately $300 million, with slightly different unit costs of $70 million and $80 million for the two orders, respectively. Among them, the first 2 vessels are scheduled to be delivered sequentially in the second half of 2025 and the remaining 2 vessels are expected to be delivered by November 2026.
With a length of 159.9 meters, a width of 27.4 meters and a height of 17.8 meters, this LCO2 carrier is specially designed for the transportation of carbon dioxide, and it can also transport a variety of liquefied gas cargoes, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ammonia (NH3), etc.
The LCO2 carrier features an ice-resistant design (ice class 1C) for safe navigation in icy seas. It is equipped with three “Bi-lobe” carbon dioxide storage tanks, which can stably maintain a low temperature and high pressure environment of minus 55 degrees Celsius and five times higher than atmospheric pressure.
It is also fitted with a 2,500kW onboard shore power system (AMP) and a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to reduce emissions of air pollutants such as fine dust and sulfur oxides. In addition, the vessel is designed with an ammonia reservation for future conversion to an ammonia-powered vessel, enabling carbon-neutral operations.
It is reported that LCO2 carriers are transporting liquefied carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere, and need to stabilize the transport technology for storing cargo by keeping the pressure inside the tank constant. If the pressure inside the cargo hold decreases, carbon dioxide will be converted to solid dry ice, causing a series of problems. To prevent such a problem, HD Hyundai Mipo is advancing the technology of pressure regulation of liquid carbon dioxide through the Carbon Neutral Ship R&D Demonstration Facility, which was completed in April in collaboration with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.
An HD Hyundai Mipo official said, ” Our company will be the first Korean shipbuilder to build LCO2 carriers and is committed to establishing a solid competitiveness in the next-generation ship market.”
