Seabound has received £1.1 million in funding through Round 6 of the UK Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC6), according to the company's release.
The grant will support a joint project between Seabound, STAX Engineering and Associated British Ports (ABP) to install a combined carbon and emissions capture system at the Port of Southampton.
The project aims to integrate Seabound’s carbon capture technology with STAX’s emission capture and control system.
According to the companies, the solution has already been demonstrated at the Port of Long Beach, California in April 2025.
ABP, the UK’s largest port operator, has set a target of net-zero emissions across its operations by 2040. The company has also launched its Energy Ventures Accelerator programme in 2024 to support clean energy start-ups.
The Southampton initiative will make the port the first in the UK to host a fully integrated system capturing carbon dioxide, sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides directly from ships at berth. “This is the first time in the world that carbon and air pollution capture will be combined and deployed at full commercial scale in a port,” said Alisha Fredriksson, CEO and Co-Founder of Seabound.
lomarlabs, a venture lab launched in 2023 by shipowner Lomar, is supporting Seabound’s commercialisation. Its Managing Director, Stylianos Papageorgiou, described the project as “a breakthrough moment for ports and for the maritime decarbonisation landscape.”
Seabound’s modular capture units are designed to fit into 20-foot containers and will be integrated into STAX’s barge-based capture system.
The CMDC6 funding will support pre-deployment work, including logistics testing and system refinement, before scaling up to cover key berths at Southampton.
The project builds on Seabound’s earlier CMDC Round 3 demonstration, in which it reported 78% CO₂ capture and more than 90% SO₂ removal on a commercial vessel.
UK Maritime Minister Mike Kane said the wider £30 million CMDC6 funding package would be “crucial in supporting the green fuels and technologies of the future” as part of the government’s plan to achieve net zero shipping by 2050.
Seabound is a private UK-based technology company founded in 2021 that develops modular carbon capture systems for the shipping industry. It has carried out pilot projects with shipping operators including Hapag-Lloyd, Hartmann Group and Heidelberg Materials AG.
STAX Engineering is a private company that designs and operates patented exhaust capture and filtration systems for ships. Its technology removes particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from vessel emissions without requiring modifications to ships. The company has treated more than 1,100 vessels at berth worldwide.
Associated British Ports (ABP) is a statutory harbour authority and the UK’s largest port operator, managing 21 ports across England, Scotland and Wales. ABP provides cargo handling, logistics and infrastructure services, and oversees key national import and export routes. lomarlabs is a corporate venture lab created by shipowner and management company Lomar in 2023.
Lomar is a UK-based shipping company that owns and manages a fleet of vessels, including container ships, bulk carriers and tankers. It operates globally across multiple shipping segments.