South Korea's onboard carbon capture safety guidelines adopted as basis for IMO standard

South Korea's proposed interim safety guidelines for onboard carbon capture systems (OCCS) — technology that captures and stores carbon dioxide emitted from ships — have been adopted as the foundational document for developing an international safety standard. South Korea will also lead the follow-up intersessional working group, with the goal of securing final approval from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by 2029.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced Sunday that South Korea's "Interim Safety Guidelines for Onboard Carbon Capture Systems" were adopted as the base document for international standard development at the IMO's 12th Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC 12), held in London from Sept. 14 to 18.

The CCC is a sub-committee under the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee that addresses technical matters related to cargo and container transport and the use of gas and alternative fuels. Interim safety guidelines are non-mandatory standards that set out safety requirements for ship design, construction and operation before binding regulations — such as international conventions — are established.

At the meeting, IMO member states agreed to develop global OCCS safety guidelines based on South Korea's proposal. They also established an intersessional working group for follow-up discussions, with South Korea designated to lead it.

OCCS technology captures and stores carbon dioxide from ship exhaust gases. It is one of the tools the shipping industry can use to meet increasingly stringent greenhouse gas regulations, and shipbuilders and shipping companies have recently been conducting research and verification work to apply the technology to actual vessels.

A key feature of South Korea's proposed guidelines is that they are not calibrated to any single carbon capture technology. The proposal adopts a two-track structure: common OCCS safety standards in the main body, with separate annexes setting out technology-specific safety requirements for methods such as chemical absorption, membrane separation and mineralization.

The structure applies common safety standards regardless of the technology used, while managing risks specific to each technology through separate standards. According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, this technology-neutral, risk-based approach drew support from Liberia, Australia, Brazil and the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS).

The ministry has been running a public-private consultative body since April, bringing together shipbuilders, shipping companies, equipment manufacturers and classification societies to prepare for final approval of the interim safety guidelines. The target is to complete additional discussions in 2027 and 2028 and obtain IMO final approval in 2029.

To that end, South Korea plans to secure technical evidence — including design and operational data and risk assessments — and to steer discussions in the intersessional working group it leads. It will also work to incorporate domestically developed OCCS technologies and safety standards into the international standard.

Jeong Do-hyeon, director general of the ministry's Maritime Safety Bureau, said the outcome was significant because it positioned South Korea to lead safety standards for a core technology in international maritime decarbonization. "We will continue to work closely with the domestic shipbuilding and shipping industries to ensure the international standardization of Korea's OCCS technology proceeds without a hitch, and to actively contribute to the decarbonization of international shipping," he said.