ecoCO2®

Captured carbon only matters if it can get where it needs to go

Carbon capture creates a new logistical challenge: CO₂ must move reliably from capture to utilisation or permanent storage, often between facilities built by different organisations, to different requirements and timelines. ecoCO2® is Babcock LGE’s cargo handling and reliquefaction system for refrigerated liquid CO₂, engineered around the complete Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) transport chain, not the vessel in isolation.

Download ecoCO2® brochure

LNG -162°C

Ethylene -104°C

Ethane -89°C

CO₂ -55°C

LPG -48°C

Ammonia -33°C

The ship has to work with the infrastructure at both ends

A CO₂ carrier is not an isolated asset. Its cargo system sits between the capture facility at one end of the voyage and the receiving, utilisation or sequestration infrastructure at the other. Each project can bring different loading and discharge conditions, cargo compositions, shipping profiles, volumes, tank pressures and vessel configurations.

The vessel has to connect two parts of the CCUS chain without becoming the constraint between them.

Start with the whole transport chain, then engineer the solution

ecoCO2® starts with the conditions the project needs to connect. Loading terminal requirements, voyage duration, cargo composition, storage conditions, discharge parameters and required volume are considered together to define the cargo-handling architecture, so the vessel is engineered as part of the logistics system rather than a standalone transport package.

Understand the interfaces. Engineer the connection.

Move more CO₂ without designing around conventional pressure limits

Transport pressure fundamentally influences the cargo tank, cargo density, vessel arrangement and cargo-handling process. ecoCO2® was developed as the world’s first cargo-handling and reliquefaction system for a low-pressure CO₂ cargo-tank design, enabling refrigerated liquid CO₂ to be handled and reliquefied at the conditions large-scale marine transportation requires.

The pressure is not simply the specification. It’s part of the economics of transporting CO₂ at scale.

No two CCUS chains will look the same

CCUS infrastructure is developing project by project. ecoCO2® accommodates a range of vessel configurations, including different tank capacities, geometry and design pressures.

Shipping profile

Voyage length and frequency influence cargo-management requirements.

Terminal interface

Loading and discharge conditions can be incorporated into the system definition.

Cargo composition

The cargo plant can be engineered around the CO₂ stream the project actually produces.

Volume and vessel configuration

Tank capacity, geometry and pressure can be adapted to the required transport model.

The project defines the duty. The engineering follows it.

A CO₂ carrier should not have to depend on one trade from day one

The CO₂ shipping market is developing alongside the infrastructure it serves, and dedicated LCO₂ trades may take time to mature. ecoCO2® identifies multi-gas transportation as a commercial opportunity, letting the vessel retain trading flexibility while dedicated CO₂ routes develop.

CO₂

Support emerging CCUS transportation requirements.

LPG

Access an established liquefied-gas trading market.

Ammonia

Create optionality as new ammonia cargo trades develop.

One vessel. More than one route to value.

Flexibility protects the vessel while the market develops

The challenge for an early CO₂ carrier owner is not simply technical readiness. It’s committing capital to a vessel whose dedicated trading market is still developing. Multi-cargo capability provides another route to employment, and adaptable tank and cargo-system architecture lets the vessel serve different project requirements.

Project flexibility → greater trading optionality → improved asset utilisation → reduced investment exposure

New cargo. Proven engineering principles

CO₂ transportation is an emerging large-scale marine application, but the equipment does not all need to be experimental. ecoCO2® incorporates standardised, field-proven components, with the objectives of operational safety, system integrity and ease of maintenance.

Innovation where the application requires it. Proven equipment where it does not.

The progression from Approval in Principle (AiP) to commercial-vessel gas trial gives a clear maturity story for a technology serving an emerging market

2023

Lloyd’s Register Approval in Principle

2024

World-first low-pressure ecoCO₂® contract

2025

First commercial-vessel gas trial

2026

Commercial deployment

Proof

Low pressure CO₂ handling. Proven on a commercial vessel

Read the case study.

World-first low-pressure system

Cargo handling and reliquefaction for a low-pressure CO₂ cargo-tank design

First commercial application

The first commercial ecoCO2® vessel (22,000 m³)

First commercial gas trial

Maiden gas trial completed in Dec 2025, validating low-pressure CO₂ handling and reliquefaction onboard

LR Approval in Principle

Lloyd’s Register AiP behind the architecture

Part of the whole CCUS Chain

Shipping cannot be optimised on its own

The economics of marine CO₂ transport depend on more than the vessel. Capture conditions influence cargo composition and loading; shipping distance influences storage, reliquefaction and voyage management; receiving infrastructure influences discharge conditions; storage strategy influences delivery pressure and scheduling. Babcock LGE works with stakeholders across the CCUS chain to understand those interfaces and engineer the marine system around them.

The ship is one link in the chain. Its engineering has to understand all of them.

Through-life support

A new market needs engineering support beyond delivery

As CO₂ shipping moves from first-of-kind projects into regular commercial operation, operating experience becomes particularly valuable. Babcock LGE’s through-life model includes onboard engineering support, remote monitoring, performance analytics, training, dry-dock support and system upgrades, turning early operational experience into improved system performance as the market develops.

CO₂ · CCUS TRANSPORTATION

Connect capture to storage without making the ship the constraint.

ecoCO2® is more than a cargo plant for a new type of cargo; it’s an engineering response to a new logistics system. By designing around the interfaces between capture, shipping and storage, we help owners create vessels efficient for the CO₂ trade they are entering while retaining flexibility as the market develops.

Tell us the project. We’ll bring the engineering.