Bernhard Schulte’s first LCO2 carrier step closer to Northern Lights

May 20, 2026, by Nadja Skopljak

The fourth liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) carrier destined for the Northern Lights CO2 project in Norway has been christened in China.

Northern Purpose 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 was christened on May 19.

This is Bernhard Schulte’s first LCO2 carrier and the fourth for Northern Lights. All four are sister vessels with the same design and have a cargo capacity of 7,500 m3 each, distributed across two cylindrical pressure tanks.

The four ships will transport CO2 from European emitters to Northern Lights’ CO2 receiving terminal at Øygarden, before it is permanently stored beneath the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

Third Northern Lights LCO2 carrier blessed, now preparing for service

Project & Tenders

“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 for 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, marking the start of operations of 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 in January charter deals with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and a consortium between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) and MISC for four more CO2 vessels.