Alisha Fredriksson and Roujia Wen

Shipping is regulated by a global body - the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The IMO has established targets for the sector, including a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, 70% reduction by 2040 and a complete shift to net-zero emissions by 2050. While alternative fuels and new ship designs offer long-term solutions, most existing vessels lack a feasible retrofit option for cutting CO₂ emissions. Fredriksson (Sweden/Canada) and Wen (China) co-founded Seabound to commercialise their modular carbon capture system that can be installed on existing ships. 

Current onboard carbon capture systems require complex, high-energy processes to separate, compress and store CO₂ in pressurised tanks or cryogenic containers. These solutions have high capital costs and present logistical challenges, as many ports lack CO₂ handling facilities. Seabound takes a different approach - the system is designed to fit standard shipping containers, allowing it to be customised for different vessels and scaled to meet shipowners' needs. Instead of compressing CO₂ into a liquid or gas, the device binds it chemically with lime-based sorbents to form limestone. Captured CO₂ is offloaded as solid limestone pellets, which can be either regenerated for further use or repurposed for industrial applications like construction materials.  As Fredriksson explains, "Making carbon capture viable for ships isn’t just about shrinking the technology. It’s about reimagining how we capture, store and offload CO₂ in a way that works for the industry".  

Spotting a gap, closing the loop 

Fredriksson and Wen met at Minerva University, where they developed a shared passion for climate solutions and deep-tech innovation. While Fredriksson had worked in maritime alternative fuels, Wen brought expertise in applied mathematics and AI, with her experience at Cambridge and working in a research group for CERN.  

Fredriksson identified a major bottleneck in the production of e-methanol, an alternative fuel requiring captured CO₂ as a feedstock. Ironically, there wasn’t enough captured CO₂ available to meet demand. This led the duo to explore ways to capture CO₂ directly from ships and cycle it back into the industry—creating a circular system that benefits both emissions reduction and fuel production.  

The duo progressively scaled their experiments, beginning with gas cylinder simulations of a ship exhaust, then testing a larger prototype connected to a generator’s exhaust, before advancing to full-scale maritime trials. “We spent weeks installing our system at a shipyard in Türkiye,” recalls Wen. “And then sailed through the Mediterranean and Red Sea to Oman, troubleshooting and iterating as we went. The lack of internet and tools made it challenging, but it pushed us to get creative and solve problems on the fly.” 

Based in the United Kingdom, Seabound offers a promising solution for the approximately 60 000 cargo ships worldwide that must reduce their emissions. 

Towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

The invention supports SDG 13 (climate action) by cutting CO₂ emissions from cargo ships and enabling compliance with global decarbonisation targets.