marine resources JIP for CO 2 Pipeline Ops DNV is advancing Skylark, a joint industry project (JIP) to enhance un-derstanding of carbon dioxide pipe-line operations, ensuring regulators and operators globally have access to the highest quality of information to make their decisions. Developed in collaboration with the U.K. Health and Safety Execu-tive Science Division, University of Arkansas, Ricardo’s U.K. National Chemical Emergency Centre, the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, this three-year initiative comes as car-bon capture and storage (CCS) net-works must expand dramatically to meet climate goals. The project aligns with DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook 2024 re-port, which forecasts that CO 2 pipe-lines will need to grow from 9,500 km today to more than 200,000 km by 2050 to support industrial decar-bonization. Skylark will provide essential safety insights through advanced modeling, real-world testing and emergency response analysis to en-able this expansion. A key focus is understanding CO 2 behavior during pipeline inci-dents, including dispersion patterns under different terrain and weather conditions. Large-scale experiments at DNV’s Spadeadam Research and Testing Centre will study crater for-mation and dispersion. Wind tunnel testing at the University of Arkan-sas will complement field studies. Emergency response protocols will be tested in real-world scenarios with first responders. These insights will help operators to enhance safety measures and regulators to strengthen frameworks as CCS de-ployment accelerates. Skylark will validate CO 2 dis-persion models for varied terrain; develop emergency response best practices; and inform safety guide-lines for pipeline routing, risk as-sessment, and venting. To partic-ipate, companies may contact: daniel.allason@dnv.com. 42 ST | October 2025 Clathrate Hydrate Research For Practical Applications Clathrate hydrates, tiny crystal-line cages of ice that can trap other gases or liquids, can form in natural gas pipelines and cause explosions if they block the line. The BP Deep-water Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was caused by hydrate formation, said John Tse, Canada research chair of materi-als science and a professor in the Department of Physics and Engi-neering Physics at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). Tse and his colleagues want to study how this compound forms and how the gas and water interact with each other. Because the reactions that form hydrates happen so quickly, the researchers needed a way to both slow them down and observe them in progress. Tse cooled a mixture of water and tetrahydrofuran (THF) to -263° C in a vacuum, then used the powerful X-ray beamlines of the Canadian Light Source at USask to watch how the molecules moved and changed shape as he slowly warmed up the mixture. Tse found that, as the tempera-ture rose, the THF separated out and formed crystals while the frozen wa-ter remained in a noncrystal form. Then, around -163° C, the THF sud-denly melted and mixed with the water to form clathrate hydrates, crystalline cages of ice with THF trapped inside. Understanding how hydrates be-have could lead to practical appli-cations beyond protecting against pipeline explosions, such as use in natural gas transport and storage (a single cubic foot of hydrate can store up to 150 cubic feet of gas) or for CCS projects. national Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework. Demand for LNG-fueled vessels has continued in 2025. In the first six months, 87 new LNG dual-fuel vessels were ordered, up from 53 in the corresponding period in 2024. There are now 1,369 LNG dual-fuel vessels in operation and on order, according to data from SEA-LNG member DNV. Most of the 2025 orders have been for large contain-erships. LNG bunkering volumes con-tinue to expand as well. In the first quarter of 2025, volumes in Rotter-dam increased by 7 percent com-pared with the same period in 2024, and Singapore reported 18 percent growth over the first five months of 2025 versus 2024. LNG bunkering is developing rapidly in the Western Mediterranean and China. The analysis shows that both high-pressure and low-pressure LNG dual-fuel engines offer a rel-ative payback period of about 4.5 to five years compared with very-low-sulphur fuel oil for a 14,000-TEU container vessel operating a trans-Pacific route. Data for SIDS Resilience Ship LNG Market Report The industry coalition SEA-LNG has published a new report titled “The LNG Pathway: Mid-Year Mar-ket Review,” evaluating the state of play for LNG, liquefied biomethane, and e-methane, with initial analysis of why LNG dual-fuel engines of-fer the best returns under the Inter-www.sea-technology.com Fugro and the SDG Data Alli-ance will help Caribbean nations confront climate change through a new agreement. The partnership will support locally led efforts to strengthen coastal resilience by building technical capacity and improving access to decision-ready geospatial insights. These efforts will help small island developing states (SIDS) respond more effectively to rising sea levels, intensifying storms and other climate-related threats. Fugro will provide high-resolu-tion mapping, expert analysis, data visualization and hands-on train-ing. These efforts will be channeled through the SIDS Global Data Hub, a digital platform within the SIDS Centre of Excellence. The work will also be aligned with the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS. This partnership follows Fugro’s recent agreement with Esri, a found-ing member of the Data Alliance, to expand access to essential data and tools for climate resilience. ST
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