TOKYO-Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President & CEO: Takeshi Hashimoto) announced that it will be contracted to study liquefied CO₂ transport by vessel in a carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) project off the northern to western coast of Kyushu in a project implemented by ENEOS Corporation (ENEOS; President: Takeshi Saito; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-Power; President: Hitoshi Kanno; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation (President & CEO: Toshiya Nakahara; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) and commissioned by the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC; Chairman: Ichiro Takahara).

JOGMEC has positioned projects with large-scale potential as "Advanced CCS Projects" for CCS promotion and expansion with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and is supporting the entire value chain from CO₂ separation and capture to transport and storage in an integrated manner. The offshore northern to western Kyushu CCS project will be the largest among candidate projects in JOGMEC's advanced CCS projects with an annual CO₂ storage capacity of about 3 million tons.

MOL will conduct an initial study of the voyage plan, estimate marine transport costs, and identify risks and issues related to the use of a liquefied CO₂ carrier (liquefaction conditions: low temperature and low pressure, medium temperature and medium pressure) collected at J-Power's thermal power plants and ENEOS's refineries in Western Japan to the potential storage sites.
Through this study, MOL will contribute to the start of domestic CCS by FY2030, and ultimately to the realization of a carbon-neutral society.