Captura Announces Sale of Carbon Removal Credits and Strategic Partnership With Mitsui O.S.K. Lines

• Captura is now selling carbon credits from its first commercial Direct Ocean Capture facilities, with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines signing the first large-volume offtake agreement for 30,000 tons
• Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has also invested in Captura through its venture capital arm, MOL Switch LLC, and entered a strategic partnership to explore deploying commercial Captura plants

TOKYO & PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), a global shipping leader, has become the first company to sign a large-volume offtake agreement for the permanent removal of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere using Captura’s Direct Ocean Capture (DOC) technology. Under the agreement, MOL has purchased 30,000 carbon removal credits, to be delivered by one of Captura’s first commercial DOC facilities before the end of 2030. The commercial agreement will support MOL’s 2050 net zero target.

Captura’s DOC technology offers a highly scalable and efficient form of carbon removal by combining innovations in electrochemistry with the natural carbon removal capability of the world’s oceans. It works by extracting a measurable stream of CO₂ from seawater, creating capacity for the ocean to absorb more CO₂ from the atmosphere. The technology has already been demonstrated in three operational pilot plants, and early design work is now underway for Captura’s first commercial facility, expected to capture 30,000-50,000 tons of CO₂ per year.

In addition to the carbon credit purchase, MOL and Captura have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enter a strategic partnership aimed at deploying commercial DOC plants. Captura’s business model is to license its technology to deployment partners who will build, own and operate large-scale DOC facilities around the world.

Furthermore, MOL Switch, MOL’s corporate venture capital firm, has invested in Captura as part of its work to support the development of new technologies and business models to decarbonize the energy sector.

Tomoaki Ichida, CEO of MOL Switch, stated, “At MOL, we are dedicated to advancing innovative decarbonization solutions that align with our sustainability goals. DOC technology offers a cost-effective and durable approach to carbon removal, and we are excited to collaborate with Captura—both by purchasing high-quality carbon credits to support our net-zero efforts and by strategically investing and partnering to help scale and deploy this high-potential technology.

We see this as a crucial step in our sustainability journey and a significant business opportunity in the rapidly growing carbon removal market.”

This announcement follows the start of successful operations at Captura's third DOC pilot plant in Hawaii, unveiled two months ago. This pilot is now operating at the rate of 1000 tons of CO₂ captured annually and marks the final step in Captura’s technology development program, building on its earlier 1-ton and 100-ton systems in California. This third pilot demonstrates Captura’s modular technology at a scale and performance level that can be repeated to build large commercial facilities.

Steve Oldham, CEO of Captura, said, “Our go-to-market strategy has always focused on proving that our technology can scale sustainably and affordably before bringing it to market. We’ve achieved this through a diligent pilot and scale-up program, successfully increasing capacity by a factor of 1,000 while meeting all key performance indicators. With the successful operations of our 1000-ton pilot, we have validated the readiness of our technology for large-scale deployment and are now actively securing offtake agreements for commercial facilities.

“This partnership and first offtake agreement with MOL marks a major milestone in bringing our technology to market. We are excited to collaborate with MOL as we rapidly advance towards commercial deployment and expand access to high-quality carbon removal solutions.”

Captura’s DOC technology also previously secured a carbon removal pre-purchase from Frontier Climate, acting on behalf of Stripe and Shopify. Signed in 2022 with a standard value of $500,000, the pre-purchase agreement supported Captura’s early technology development, with the carbon removal to be delivered from a forthcoming Captura facility.

To learn more about Captura, visit www.capturacorp.com.

About Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.:

Founded in 1884, MOL is a leading company in the shipping industry that operates various social infrastructure businesses, centering on the oceangoing shipping business with a fleet of over 900 vessels. It is one of the first in the shipping industry to set a target of achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050, and is committed to reduce GHG emissions including involvement in Carbon Dioxide Removal industry through concerted efforts as the group.

About Captura:

Captura is a Direct Ocean Capture company headquartered in Pasadena, California. Captura combines innovative technology with the natural carbon removal powers of the ocean to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere at large scale and low-cost, providing a critical capability in the fight against climate change. Captura was founded at Caltech and its solution has been supported by the Carbon Removal XPRIZE, the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E, and Frontier Climate.