Role of CO₂ shipping in APAC cross-border CCUS initiatives

To study the strategic role of shipping industry in supporting carbon capture initiatives

• Explore how shipping can enable cross-border transport of captured CO₂ in APAC

• Analyse technical and economic trade-offs

• Identify regulatory, commercial, and operational enablers

• Strategic role in APAC: Shipping CO₂ will be especially important in APAC due to the vast oceans and seas that separate emitters and sequestration sites, when compared to Europe.

• Projected CO₂ volumes: Approximately 100 million tons per annum (MtPA) of CO₂ captured using carbon capture technologies is expected to be transported across national borders in APAC by 2050.

• Fleet and investment needs: Transporting this annual tonnage would require between 85 to 150 liquefied CO₂ carriers of 50 kt capacity where the total investments needed for these vessels by 2050 could reach up to USD 25 billion.

• Economic viability of shipping over pipeline: Shipping becomes economically advantageous compared with pipeline transport of the same amount of CO₂ at longer distances. A threshold distance of 500 km was identified to be economically viable for transporting 5 MtPA CO₂ via shipping.

• Cost of cross-border CCUS: The end-to-end levelised cost of cross-border CCUS with shipping ranges from USD 141–174 per ton of CO₂ for Southeast Asia routes to USD 167–287 per ton of CO₂ for Northeast Asia–Australia routes. Capture and shipping costs constitute 60–80% of the estimated total expenses.

• Regulatory gaps: Nascent regulations could also hinder the development of cross-border CCUS in the region. Countries need to establish domestic regulations governing carbon accounting and verification methodologies for CCUS, as well as permitting procedures for cross-border CCUS projects.

• Need for bilateral and multilateral frameworks: Additionally, bilateral and multilateral frameworks are required to clarify jurisdictional authority for cross-border projects and allocate commercial and operational liabilities for CO₂ leaks during transport across the value chain.

• Importance of regulatory certainty: Establishing these regulations and frameworks can provide greater certainty for project developers, mitigating policy risks and supporting CCUS projects and offtake agreements.