Liberia Backs Onboard Carbon Capture Systems for Decarbonisation

Seabound plans to deliver its first commercial carbon capture systems to the market in 2025. Image Credit: Seabound / Liberian IMO delegation

Liberia's delegation to the International Maritime Organization has submitted a document to the UN body backing the use of onboard carbon capture systems as a means of decarbonisation.

The Liberian delegation's document, submitted to the Marine Environment Protection Committee earlier this month, provides a case study analysing the performance of a carbon capture system on board a container ship.

"Onboard carbon capture technology could be an essential and complementary tool for achieving the levels of ambition in the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships," the delegation said in the document.

"This case study is one of the first examples that demonstrates OCCS is a viable technology to support the decarbonization challenge."

Carbon capture systems remove GHG emissions directly from a vessel's exhaust, allowing them to reduce GHG emissions while still burning carbon-emitting fuels. Little clarity has yet emerged on how these systems will be viewed under IMO decarbonisation regulations.

The case study included in the Liberian document concerns a carbon capture system installed on the  3,200 TEU container ship Sounion Trader by technology company Seabound.

The system was tested over a period of two months, while the vessel was operating in the Middle East, and achieved 78% CO2 capture efficiency.

Seabound plans to deliver its first commercial carbon capture systems to the market in 2025, with three installations expected that year, moving up to ten systems in 2026.