IMO Backs Carbon Mineralization Pathway for Shipping

The headquarters of the IMO in London
Corporate News Environment Shipping Asia
by Sam Hamilton

A proposal to classify carbon mineralization as a permanent carbon storage method for shipping has received in-principle backing at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The move could create a new route for the use of onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) systems.

The proposal was led by Shanghai Qiyao Technology Group and submitted during the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 84) meeting. It argues that carbon dioxide captured onboard vessels can be converted into stable minerals, including calcium carbonate. This would provide a permanent form of carbon sequestration while also creating materials that could potentially be used by the construction sector.

The IMO working group welcomed two submissions from the Chinese company and its partners. The first set out the technical and environmental case for treating mineralization as equivalent to permanent storage. The second provided results from a full-chain demonstration project involving onboard carbon capture, ship-to-ship transfer of liquid CO2, land transport, and final mineralization.

Supporters of the proposal say mineralization could help address one of the main barriers to wider OCCS adoption: limited access to suitable geological storage infrastructure.

Traditional carbon capture systems depend on moving captured CO2 to dedicated storage locations, which can be costly and complex from a logistics perspective. Mineralization offers another option by converting the carbon into stable carbonate products that may also have commercial value.

“We see this IMO attention as an important step,” the head of Qiyao’s OCCS team said. “Closing the loop from shipboard capture to onshore mineralisation can make carbon accounting more practical and economically attractive for the industry.”

Shanghai Qiyao said it has already fitted a full-scale onboard carbon capture system on a 14,000 TEU containership. The company also said it has completed what it described as the world’s first ship-to-ship transfer of captured liquid CO2 for later mineralization onshore.