Ceres Shipping invests in a fleet of 60 ships to carry CO2

New innovative technological solutions that contribute to the protection of the environment have always attracted Greek shipowners. It is no coincidence that they are also pioneers in investments in liquefied natural gas carriers. In this context, yesterday’s announcement by the Greek shipowner Panagiotis (Peter) LIvanos to invest in the “industry” of  Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage – CCUS in view of the target for zero emissions by 2050.

The capture and storage of carbon dioxide in geological formations (CCS) is a bridging technology that contributes to tackling climate change. It consists of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial facilities, ships, etc., transporting it to a storage site and injecting it into suitable underground geological formations or other sites for permanent storage or reuse.

According to an announcement by the newly established company ECOLOG, it will invest in 60 ships, and the necessary terminals to transport 50 million tons of CO2 per year by 2035. In support of industry plans to reduce harmful emissions, this extensive network by sea will connect CO2 emitters to storage facilities for low cost or reuse, at a corresponding cost.

Transportation

According to the company, it is going to start with the transportation of 5 million tons per year in 2025 to 2026 and reach 50 million tons by 2035.

This new business is supported by Ceres Shipping, the flagship of Mr. Livano’s shipping group, whose investment interest extends to both liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation via GasLog Ltd and bulk dry cargo transportation through DryLog. Ceres Shipping states in a relevant announcement that “we are extremely proud to publicly announce the launch of ECOLOG and the role it will play in the world’s efforts to reach Net Zero by 2050”. ECOLOG, according to the announcement, will help accelerate the urgently needed adoption of CCUS by offering midstream (transport, storage, wholesale) services.

First of their kind

ECOLOG ships will be the first of their kind in a range of capacity ranging from a minimum of 20,000 cubic meters for local transport up to 85,000 cubic meters for longer distance trade. Each of the vessels will carry over 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year between ECOLOG terminal. Ships and terminals will operate at a pressure of 8 bar to ensure efficient and safe transport of large volumes of CO2. All the technologies that are going to be developed in this network have been established for many years, just redesigned for scale and product.

Jasper Heikes on behalf of ECOLOG added that ECOLOG is an exciting and timely undertaking ready to create low-cost, large-scale, high-speed solutions for CO2 emitters for transport and permanent storage.

The company added, it is working towards meeting the global challenge of committing 7.6 gigatons of CO2 by 2050 to keep global warming within the 1.5C degree target.