EU Approves New Permanent Storage Option for Onboard Carbon Capture

The Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation has secured a step forward for the deployment of onboard carbon capture systems, not a technical step, but a regulatory one. Drawing on data from a test it ran in 2025, it has convinced the European Union to accept onboard CCS as a compliant solution for the EU Emissions Trading System, if the captured carbon is processed into a chemically bound form in an approved product. This means that this particular format for storage could be a money-saver for operators who call in European waters.

To get the data needed to reach regulatory approvals, GCMD ran a series of tests on an 18,000 TEU Evergreen boxship while the vessel was moored at a Chinese port. The test used a carbon capture system that was developed by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and retrofitted onto Evergreen's Ever Top in 2024.

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The test demonstrated a gross capture rate of about 11 percent on board the ship, and at a commercially usable quality of 99.95 percent purity. Once offloaded, the captured CO2 was transferred to a steel slag processing plant and turned into mineralized form, calcium carbonate, a stable compound with multiple industrial uses. With this success in hand, GCMD and its partners presented the results to authorities in the EU and at IMO. The EU has now approved this method of storage as compliant with the EU ETS, opening up a new way for shipowners to dispose of captured CO2.

IMO previously granted in-principle approval for this disposal strategy at MEPC 84, augmenting existing approval for geological storage, injection underground.

"The acceptance of the EU ETS deduction gives captured CO? a compliance value. At the same time, IMO’s in-principle support for carbon mineralization will help clarify how captured CO2 can be treated after it leaves the vessel. Together, these milestones turn a pilot into a verified reference case for maritime carbon logistics, one that links regulatory recognition, commercial value and emissions impact," said Prof. Lynn Loo, the CEO of GCMD.