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DNV validates tanker trial data
DNV has confirmed that Carbon Ridge’s centrifugal onboard carbon capture and storage system reached peak CO2 capture rates of more than 98% during a pilot installation on a Scorpio Tankers product tanker.
The technical evaluation used DNV’s Recommended Practice for performance verification of onboard carbon capture and storage, known in the industry as OCCS. DNV reviewed the methodologies, calculations and reported performance metrics from the pilot and said the data supported peak capture rates above 98%.
For shipowners watching carbon regulation move from policy language into balance sheet reality, the result gives the sector another data point in a debate that is becoming harder to avoid. Can onboard carbon capture move from trial equipment to practical fleet hardware?
Pilot ran during commercial operations
The installation was carried out on the 109,999 dwt, 2015 built LR2 product tanker STI Spiga, owned by Scorpio Tankers Inc. The pilot began in July 2025 at Besiktas Shipyard in Turkey and ran over a scheduled five month period while the vessel continued regular commercial operations.
The system was configured to capture and treat part of the tanker’s emissions stream. According to the reviewed data, 55% of the observations fell within a capture range of 86% to 98%.
That matters because OCCS performance is not judged only by a single high reading. Operators need to know how a system behaves over time, across different loads, conditions and operating routines. A capture unit that performs well in a controlled test is one thing. A unit placed on a working tanker is a different test altogether.
Centrifugal system targets space limits
The Scorpio pilot is described as the first maritime deployment of a centrifugal OCCS system. Carbon Ridge’s design is built around a compact, modular configuration that can be installed vertically or horizontally, depending on vessel constraints.
The company says the system can reduce space requirements by up to 75% compared with conventional OCCS columns. For tankers, bulk carriers and project cargo vessels, available space is rarely a small matter. Adding decarbonisation equipment to a ship can resemble fitting a new room into a house that is already fully furnished.
Captured CO2 is compressed, liquefied and stored on board for the duration of the voyage. The operational question then moves beyond capture rates and into the wider chain: storage capacity, offloading, port infrastructure and commercial treatment of the captured carbon.
Verification becomes central to OCCS business case
Carbon Ridge CEO and founder Chase Dwyer said the DNV evaluation validates the capability of the company’s modular centrifugal OCCS technology to reduce emissions from existing vessels and newbuilds.
He said the initial data and lessons from the STI Spiga trial support the company’s plan to scale OCCS across the global fleet, adding that the work depended on industry partners such as Scorpio Tankers supporting deployment of the technology.
Chara Georgopoulou, Head of Onboard Carbon Capture at DNV Maritime, said independently verified capture rates would be vital to building a commercially viable OCCS business model. She said DNV’s Recommended Practice is intended to help ensure performance reporting can be applied accurately and consistently across the industry.
Georgopoulou also pointed to the next step: moving from periodic verification toward continuous assurance using real time data.
Scorpio sees regulatory option
Cameron Mackey, chief operating officer of Scorpio Tankers, said the owner was pleased DNV had validated the trial results.
He said Carbon Ridge’s OCCS could be an attractive solution for shipowners that expect higher carbon prices or stricter emissions rules. Mackey also said the system was straightforward to install and placed a low operational burden on crew.
That crew point is important. Any decarbonisation system that creates too much additional workload risks losing support on board, however strong the emissions case may look ashore.
The trial does not settle the wider commercial questions around onboard carbon capture. It does, however, add verified performance data from a working tanker to a technology field that is being watched closely by shipowners, charterers, class societies and ports.
