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

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD)-led Project CAPTURED has secured two regulatory milestones that could accelerate the adoption of onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS).

The project has won recognition under the EU ETS and in-principle support from the IMO for carbon mineralisation as a permanent CO2 storage pathway, GCMD said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

The EU ETS recognition means verified volumes of CO2 captured onboard ships can be deducted from a vessel's emissions, requiring the surrender of EU Allowances, provided the CO2 is permanently bound in eligible products.

Project CAPTURED demonstrated this by converting captured CO2 into stable industrial materials through carbon mineralisation.

The same demonstration also underpinned a proposal submitted to the IMO’s MEPC 84, which gave in-principle support to recognising carbon mineralisation as a form of permanent CO2 storage.

The move complements geological sequestration, which is already accepted by the IMO, and expands the options for handling captured carbon after it leaves a vessel.

Project CAPTURED completed the world's first end-to-end demonstration of an onboard captured and liquefied CO2 value chain in 2025.

The pilot showed that captured CO2 could be transferred ship-to-ship, transported ashore and permanently stored through carbon mineralisation. The project demonstrated overall GHG savings of 7.9% across the full carbon value chain.

“The acceptance of the EU ETS deduction gives captured CO2 a compliance value,  Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD, said.

“At the same time, IMO’s in-principle support for carbon mineralisation will help clarify how captured CO2 can be treated after it leaves the vessel.”

The project brought together 11 partners, including SMDERI-QET, Evergreen Marine, Zhoushan Dejin Shipping and Greenore/Baorong.