Denmark’s largest shipping company has signed up to study developing a nuclear-powered containership.
Maersk will work with British firms Lloyd’s Register and CORE POWER in the joint regulatory assessment study to determine the safety and regulatory considerations for a potential next-generation nuclear-propelled feeder containership to undertake cargo operations at a port in Europe.
The joint study will investigate the requirements for updated safety rules along with the improved operational and regulatory understanding that is needed for the application of nuclear power in container shipping.
Nick Brown, CEO of Lloyd’s Register, said: “The initiation of this joint study marks the beginning of an exciting journey towards unlocking the potential of nuclear power in the maritime industry, paving the way for emissions-free operations, more agile service networks and greater efficiency through the supply chain.”
Ole Graa Jakobsen, Maersk’s head of fleet technology, conceded the challenges related to safety, waste management, and regulatory acceptance across regions have outweighed the benefits of nuclear technology to date.
“If these challenges can be addressed by development of the new so-called fourth-generation reactor designs, nuclear power could potentially mature into another possible decarbonisation pathway for the logistics industry 10 to 15 years in the future,” Jakobsen said.
Other containerlines have been looking at the potential for nuclear propulsion too.
Jeremy Nixon and Rolf Habben Jensen, the CEOs of Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Hapag-Lloyd, both gave their takes on nuclear.
“We should not rule anything out,” Habben Jensen said of nuclear propulsion, saying it was still “early days” for the technology. “Any role would be from the second half of next decade ,” the Hapag-Lloyd boss suggested.
Habben Jensen’s counterpart at ONE, Nixon, said he reckoned that green hydrogen would ultimately work out as shipping’s key fuel. For its creation, vast amounts of electricity would be required, something that nuclear power could help achieve, he said.
Mikal Bøe, arguably the world’s most high-profile proponent of nuclear as shipping’s green bullet, in his role as CEO of CORE POWER, said earlier this year: “There is simply no net zero without nuclear. A 2035-built, nuclear-powered containership will be faster, carrying more cargo, travelling millions of miles on the same fuel load, all without emissions of any kind.”
He went on to add: “In port she could provide clean, cheap electricity to power loading and discharging gear onshore, helping to decarbonise her ports of call. Her sister ships will only get better.”
CORE POWER, a UK-based marine atomic propulsion developer, last year unveiled a concept design for a nuclear-powered, 2,800 teu boxship using molten salt reactors.
At a client event last September, CORE POWER identified the reasons its molten-salt reactor could revolutionise container shipping.
“New-nuclear powered vessels can herald an end to slow steaming,” said Dr Rory Megginson, head of analytics at CORE POWER. “The trend has been for larger ships travelling at slower speeds ever since 2008, leading to an inflexible service that still suffers from high emissions.”
On the transatlantic, according to CORE POWER models, transit times could be reduced from 10.2 days to 6.5 days, thereby boosting annual round trips from 28 to 41.
Among the many shipowners backing CORE POWER is Tim Hartnoll’s X-Press Feeders, one of the world’s largest feeder operators.
Making headlines at last year’s Marintec China exhibition in Shanghai was a design for a giant nuclear-powered megamax containership.
State-run Jiangnan Shipyard has come up with a design for a 24,000 teu ship incorporating molten salt reactor technology.
“The ultra-large nuclear container ship is designed to truly achieve zero emissions during the ship’s operating cycle,” the yard’s parent, China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), noted in a social media post.
