Shipowners Purus Marine and Nordic Hamburg are teaming up to install a combined scrubber/carbon capture system on four container ship newbuildings in China.
Dutch supplier Value Maritime said its emissions-reducing Filtree equipment will be fitted between September this year and February 2024 at its berth in Rotterdam — the first time the 12.5 MW kit is installed on new boxships.
Germany’s Nordic Hamburg is listed as having four 1,380-teu ships on order at Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu Ship Industry in China, due between August and November this year.
The feeder units will be operated by BG Freight Line.
TradeWinds is told Purus is the majority owner of the vessels, with Nordic Hamburg having a minority stake and providing commercial and technical management.
Filtree removes sulphur and particulate matter, as well as capturing 30% of carbon emissions from exhausts, which is then used to charge a “CO2 battery” for storage and transport to shore.
The CO2 can be discharged for use in agriculture and other sectors.
BG ordered the system for its 804-teu BG Onyx and BG Ruby (both built 2010) last year.
The operator will be able to reduce emissions significantly while continuing to sail on cheaper high-sulphur fuel.
Laurens Visser, container vessels specialist at Value Maritime, said: “We are pleased to receive this order, our first for Filtree systems to be installed on newbuild container vessels.
Significant changes
“This signifies the changes that are presently taking place in decision-making within the industry.”
Visser said cleaner, more sustainable shipping has risen up the agenda of many companies over the past few years.
“We are now seeing companies proactively looking to reduce their emissions not only retrospectively but from the very outset of operations,” he added.
EnTrust Global-backed Purus Marine has a fleet of more than 50 low-carbon vessels in the logistics, LNG, ammonia, offshore wind and ferry sectors.
BG is a subsidiary of Peel Ports Group.
