Bernhard Schulte’s First LCO2 Carrier Step Closer to Northern Lights
The fourth liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) carrier destined for the Northern Lights CO2 project in Norway has been christened in China.
Named Northern Purpose, the vessel has been custom-designed to transport liquefied CO2 as part of the world’s first cross-border CO2 transport and storage infrastructure. It was built at China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Offshore Co. (DSOC) and christened on May 19.
The vessel marks Bernhard Schulte’s first LCO2 carrier and the fourth ship for Northern Lights. All four vessels are sister ships featuring the same design, with each offering a cargo capacity of 7,500 cubic meters, distributed across two cylindrical pressure tanks.
The four carriers will transport CO2 from European emitters to Northern Lights’ CO2 receiving terminal at Øygarden. From there, the CO2 will be permanently stored beneath the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
“Our new LCO2 carrier marks the exciting expansion of Bernhard Schulte’s fleet portfolio into this innovative tanker segment. We are delighted to be part of Northern Lights’ industry-leading project to provide CO2 transport and storage infrastructure,” said Johann Schulte, Majority Shareholder of the Schulte Group and Chief Commercial Officer of Bernhard Schulte.
“The close collaboration with DSOC as selected shipbuilding partner underscores our long-standing relationships with Chinese shipyards.”
The 130-meter-long Northern Purpose is equipped with an LNG dual-fuel propulsion system, a wind-assisted rotor sail, and an air lubrication system to support lower CO2 emissions.
The vessel is managed by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM).
To remind, Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies injected and stored the first CO2 volumes as part of the Northern Lights project in August 2025. This marked the start of operations for what is said to be the world’s first third-party CO2 transport and storage facility.
Northern Lights, the joint venture (JV) encompassing the three European oil majors, announced charter deals in January with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and a consortium between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) and MISC for four more CO2 vessels.
