A new Lloyd's Register study, reported on 1 September 2026, identifies onboard carbon capture and storage systems as a potential route for cutting CO2 emissions from ships while alternative fuels and supply chains continue to develop.
The report, Applying Onboard Carbon Capture & Storage to Existing Ships, makes the case that such systems could play a meaningful role in the industry’s drive to reduce carbon output. It frames onboard carbon capture and storage, commonly abbreviated oCCS, as a practical option for owners and operators seeking nearer-term emissions reductions.
Shipowners are described in the report as facing mounting pressure to decarbonise. That context underpins the Lloyd’s Register analysis and explains why oCCS is presented as an option to complement parallel efforts on fuels and operational measures.
A practical bridge to lower emissions
Lloyd’s Register sets out oCCS as a measure that could be deployed while bunkering and distribution of alternative fuels continue to scale up. The report positions the technology as a bridge rather than a final solution, addressing immediate regulatory and stakeholder demands for reductions in CO2 from the existing fleet.
Applied to existing vessels
The LR study specifically examines the application of onboard capture and storage to ships already in service, signalling attention to retrofit possibilities rather than only newbuild solutions. That focus reflects the challenge of cutting emissions across a global fleet that will include many older vessels for years to come.
The report’s publication in reports on 1 September 2026 arrives at a moment when owners, charterers and lenders are increasingly attentive to decarbonisation pathways. Lloyd’s Register’s analysis therefore reads as practical guidance aimed at market participants looking for interim measures to reduce reported CO2 levels.
Lloyd’s Register does not present oCCS as a standalone fix but as part of a broader toolkit. The study links the potential role of onboard capture and storage to the time needed for alternative fuel supply chains to develop to the scale required for maritime demand.
If shipowners elect to pursue onboard capture and storage, a range of operational, regulatory and commercial questions will need resolving. Lloyd’s Register’s report is described in the reports item as an effort to clarify how oCCS might be introduced across existing tonnage while those wider issues are addressed.
The Lloyd’s Register study, as reported, underlines a pragmatic industry conversation: the search for credible short- and medium-term options to lower CO2 emissions while systemic changes in fuel supply progress. For many in the sector, onboard capture and storage is now part of that conversation rather than an abstract proposition.