Europe’s first purpose-built offshore CO2 carrier has entered its final phase of construction. The vessel, Carbon Destroyer 1, has been transferred from the Royal Niestern Sander shipyard to the port of Delfzijl, where it will be outfitted with specialised systems ahead of deployment in the Danish North Sea.
At 149.95 metres in length and 15.90 metres in beam, Carbon Destroyer 1 is the largest ship ever to pass through the 16-metre-wide locks in northern Netherlands. The vessel is based on Royal Wagenborg’s EasyMax design, which is widely regarded as a benchmark for energy efficiency in bulk shipping. With a hold volume exceeding 625,000 cubic feet, the carrier will be capable of transporting around 5,000 tonnes of LCO2.
The ship’s final outfitting will include the installation of CO2 storage tanks, retractable thrusters, and a dynamic positioning 2 system to support offshore operations. Once operational, it will transport liquefied CO2 from industrial emitters to permanent subsea storage sites as part of the Greensand project, led by INEOS Energy.
According to Wagenborg, the adaptation of an established bulk carrier platform into a CO2 transport vessel represents ‘a breakthrough’ in maritime contributions to the energy transition.
The project is backed by a multi-year agreement between Royal Wagenborg and INEOS, signed in 2023 in the presence of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and King Frederik of Denmark. Under the deal, INEOS Energy committed to acquiring the vessel, which will serve as a cornerstone of its broader CCS operations.
In the first phase of the Greensand Future project, CO2 captured and liquefied at Danish biomethane plants will be shipped from the Port of Esbjerg to the Nini West reservoir, where it will be stored 1,800 metres beneath the seabed.
