Northern Lights Phase 2 has moved forward with a contract signing ceremony held on 4 March 2026 in Øygarden, Norway, covering both a time charter agreement and a shipbuilding contract for a new 12,000 cubic metre liquefied CO2 carrier. The signing signals a concrete step in scaling the transport element of the project, which depends on dedicated shipping capacity to move captured CO2 to the Øygarden terminal for onward storage.

 

K Line and MISC Positioned for Phase 2 Shipping Scope

 

K Line said the vessel will be constructed for Phase 2 of Northern Lights, a project it stated it jointly won with MISC Berhad. The arrangement underlines how Northern Lights is building a repeatable logistics chain by contracting specialised carriers and aligning shipmanagement and operational responsibilities with partners that already have relevant gas and chemical shipping expertise.

 

Ceremony Linked to Existing Operations and Phase 1 Reference Asset

 

The Øygarden event included a visit to the Northern Lights CO2 storage facility and to Northern Pathfinder, the carrier that supports Phase 1 operations. K Line’s UK-based energy shipping subsidiary manages Northern Pathfinder, creating continuity between Phase 1 and Phase 2 in terms of operating model and crewed shipmanagement capability, which matters for a trade that requires tight control of cargo handling, reliability, and safety case discipline.

 

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Charter Structure and Near Term Follow On Award

 

K Line has entered into a time charter with Northern Lights for the newly built liquefied CO2 carrier and said it expects to be awarded an additional vessel contract in April 2026. The sequencing suggests Northern Lights is building shipping capacity in stages, matching vessel commitments to the pace at which Phase 2 demand is expected to materialise from contracted emitters and the ramp-up of capture and export operations.

 

Commercial Demand Anchored by Multiple European Offtakers

 

Northern Lights is jointly owned by Equinor, TotalEnergies, and Shell and has signed commercial agreements with industrial and energy players across Northern Europe, including Yara, Ørsted, and Stockholm Exergi. The Phase 2 carrier contracting fits that commercial footprint by strengthening the physical link between capture sites and storage, which is often the limiting factor when carbon transport and storage projects try to move from early volumes to scaled, multi-customer operations.