News / Nuclear box ships – faster and cleaner – would disrupt liner industry

NS Savannah, the first commercial nuclear-powered cargo vessel

Nuclear reactor-powered merchant ships could severely disrupt the box liner industry, according to a study commissioned by ABS.

The US classification society said the industry “cannot afford to ignore” the findings of the Herbert Engineering Corp (HEC) study, which shows that a 14,000 teu box ship, powered by two lead-cooled 30MW reactors, would have more capacity (or less ship per teu), and better operational speeds than conventional designs.

The first such vessel to be built could be extremely disruptive to the liner ...