GCMD completes ‘world first’ full-chain carbon capture pilot in China

June 30, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

The Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has wrapped up what it said was the ‘world’s first’ maritime pilot showcasing the full value chain of onboard captured carbon dioxide (CO2), including offloading, handling, transport and utilization.

The pilot, which was completed in China on June 25, was performed in two stages. As disclosed, the first phase involved OCCS solutions provider Shanghai Qiyao Environmental Technology (SMDERI-QET) conducting a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of 25.44 metric tons of captured CO2 from the Panama-flagged boxship MV Ever Top to the receiving vessel, the Dejin 26.

The carbon dioxide was then offloaded from Dejin 26 to a tank truck at a jetty in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province.

In the second stage, which was led by GCMD, the captured carbon dioxide made a 2,000-kilometer journey to its end-use destination: a joint venture (JV) plant between industrial plant operator Greenore and Baotou Steel, considered one of the largest steel enterprises in Inner Mongolia. There, the liquefied CO2 (LCO2) was utilized in the production of low-carbon calcium carbonate, an important component of ‘green’ construction materials.

In addition to the mentioned partners, per GCMD, the project involved close collaboration of multiple parties, including Evergreen Marine Corporation, STS service provider Dejin Shipping (the owner of one of the vessels), the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission (SMTC), Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration (SMSA), Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), Shanghai Customs, and Shanghai Border Inspection.

As disclosed, the cross-sectoral trial has demonstrated that captured CO2 can be repurposed for industrial applications, while simultaneously marrying maritime decarbonization efforts with the wider land-based carbon ecosystem.

According to GCMD, a lifecycle assessment (LCA) study is planned to be conducted in order to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with carbon dioxide quality and quantity data obtained via sampling activities throughout the pilot. The Singapore-headquartered organization said it would work with Norway’s classification society DNV for third-party validation of emission reduction claims.

“This pilot marks a major step in demonstrating how onboard captured CO2 can be integrated into the broader circular economy. With a rigorous life cycle assessment underway, we are quantifying the climate impact across the entire value chain to show how OCCS can serve as a meaningful decarbonization lever—when applied thoughtfully and transparently,” Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD, highlighted.

Speaking about the development, Tracy Chen, Senior Vice President of Greenore, further shared: “By converting the LCO2 into high-purity, green calcium carbonate, we have helped complete the carbon value chain in this pilot. In the future, with the launch of Greenore’s coastal mineralisation projects, onboard captured LCO2 can be locally utilised and stored—enabling meaningful emissions abatement and supporting the maritime sector’s transition to net-zero.“

The challenges and the impact of the pilot

As a ‘first-of-its-kind’ endeavor, the trial is said to have helped unearth specific real-world challenges that need to be tackled to enable a scalable implementation of onboard carbon capture. One of these ‘stumbling blocks’ is the classification of captured carbon dioxide, officials from the GCMD have said.

As explained, if designated as ‘hazardous waste’, captured CO2 is prohibited from being used, mandating disposal. However, the GCMD and partners worked together with relevant authorities to have the CO2 re-designated as ‘hazardous cargo’, which lifted the restrictions and allowed it to be used as an industrial feedstock.

Furthering maritime decarbonization, however, necessitates more than just capturing carbon dioxide. As GCMD noted, it is ‘vital’ to tackle the fate of captured and offloaded CO2 by setting up a full carbon value chain, including downstream infrastructure to offload, transport, store and use it ‘meaningfully.’

What is more, as underscored in GCMD’s recent COLOSSUS study, using captured CO2 in concrete production has been found to offer one of the highest GHG emission savings (up to 60%) among current utilization pathways, as it ‘particularly displaces’ the need for carbon-intensive cement manufacturing ashore.

The study, published in May 2025, also unveiled that replacing heavy fuel oil (HFO) with bio-LNG or biodiesel from used cooking oil can result in emissions savings for a vessel deploying traditional monoethanolamine (MEA)-based OCCS from 69% to 121%, respectively.

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That said, in spite of its potential, onboard carbon capture comes with multiple other challenges. In October last year, the GCMD, Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), and Stena Bulk carried out a project to examine this landscape. Specifically, the parties endeavored to inspect the design and cost implications of retrofitting a carbon capture system on the MR tanker Stena Impero.

The research showed that this technology could help the vessel accomplish an emission reduction level of up to 20% per year. However, building and fitting the vessel with the solution cost $13.6 million, resulting in an abatement cost of $769 per ton of avoided CO2 for the prototype. The partners nonetheless said that further research and development could lower these costs.

The study also uncovered other hurdles that exist in the carbon capture field, such as recurring additional costs due to fuel penalties, amine solvent replenishment, manpower, maintenance and offloading services.