The first European-built offshore CO₂ carrier for carbon capture and storage (CCS) is set to be launched on Wednesday, 14 May.
Greensand Future
The Old Continent is getting ready for a major breakthrough in the fight against climate change with the launch of its first-ever offshore CO₂ carrier, built to transport hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon dioxide each year.
The colossal vessel will reportedly be christened and launched at the Royal Niestern Saner shipyard in the north of the Netherlands on Wednesday, May 14, marking a new era for carbon capture and storage (CCS) efforts across the continent.
A result of a revolutionary partnership between global chemical, manufacturing and energy company INEOS Energy and Dutch shipowner and operator Wagenborg Offshore, the monumental ship is set to transport 400,000 tons of liquefied carbon dioxide each year from onshore capture facilities to storage reservoirs deep beneath the Danish North Sea.
Built entirely in the Netherlands, the vessel is engineered to meet the highest safety and environmental standards, with specialized systems for CO₂ transport, including advanced onboard cooling and pressure controls. It forms a key part of Project Greensand, a Danish-led initiative aiming to create the EU’s first full-scale carbon capture and storage value chain.
Mads Gade, INEOS Energy Europe CEO, praised the vessel’s construction as a win for European innovation and engineering, underscoring its vital role in the team’s ambition to establish the EU’s first full-scale CO₂ storage facility. “With the carrier now entering its next construction phase, Greensand are getting closer to completing Europe’s first full CCS value chain,” Gade added.
INEOS, one of the world’s largest chemical producers and a major player in the oil and gas market, revealed that the carrier was engineered to handle the unique challenges of transporting liquefied CO₂.
The vessel’s final destination is the Nini West platform off the Danish coast, where the CO₂ will be injected 1,800 meters beneath the seabed into geological formations that have safely held hydrocarbons for millions of years.
“The vessel is the first of its kind made in the EU and shows how the maritime industry in the North of the Netherlands can contribute to the energy transition,” Edwin de Vries, Wagenborg Offshore director stressed.
The project follows a Final Investment Decision (FID) made in December 2024 to begin CO₂ storage operations at the Nini Field, with the first phase targeting the permanent storage of 400,000 tons of CO₂ annually and plans to scale up to eight million tons by 2030.
Backed by over USD 150 million in expected investment, Project Greensand is on course to become the EU’s first full-scale carbon storage facility, with operations slated to begin by late 2025 or early 2026. The funding will support the buildout of the Greensand CCS value chain and its long-term storage capabilities.
According to INEOS, the christening ceremony, which will be broadcast live on Wednesday at 11:25 CEST, marks the culmination of months of steady progress in the vessel’s construction. Beyond its symbolic value, the ship plays a critical role in laying the foundation for an integrated CCS value chain, one that could transform the way industrial emissions are managed across the EU.
“We are proud to reach this important milestone together with INEOS for the Project Greensand,” de Vries concluded in a press statement.
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