GCMD Study Finds 7.9% Emissions Savings from Onboard Carbon Capture Pilot

Professor Lynn Loo is the CEO of GCMD. Image Credit: Lynn Loo / LinkedIn

A study by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has found that its onboard carbon capture pilot project delivered overall GHG savings of 7.9% across the full carbon value chain.

Verified by DNV, the life cycle assessment of Project Captured tracked emissions from CO2 captured onboard a container ship through offloading, transport, and industrial utilization, it said in a report on Tuesday. 

The project was completed in June 2025 and involved the world's first ship-to-ship offloading of onboard captured and liquefied CO2.

The onboard carbon capture system (OCCS) operated at a 10.7% capture rate, achieving 7.9% GHG emission savings equivalent to around 0.84 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne captured and offloaded from the vessel.

GCMD stated that these results were achieved despite first-of-a-kind constraints, such as higher bunker fuel consumption, long-distance trucking, and CO2 losses during handling.

Addressing these logistical issues could lift emissions savings to 17.8%, or nearly two tonnes of CO2 avoided per tonne captured.

The study also found that CO2 utilization can deliver greater emissions reductions than permanent offshore storage, achieving 34% emissions savings at a 40% capture rate.

GCMD warned, however, that current IMO accounting frameworks risk undervaluing these benefits by not recognizing avoided emissions from CO2 utilization.

"If our frameworks continue to ignore avoided emissions and displaced carbon, we risk disincentivising investments in solutions that can meaningfully bend the emissions curve," Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD, said.