Transporting goods by sea. - Hapag-Lloyd CEO contemplates nuclear energy for container vessels.
The head of one of the world's biggest shipping companies, Hapag-Lloyd, Rolf Habben Jansen, envisions using atomic drives in his container ships as a way to meet climate targets. "Nuclear reactors have some promise because they can contribute significantly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said the 57-year-old to Spiegel. He thinks it might also be a cost-effective solution and could even make the ships go slightly faster. "I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand without thoroughly exploring the idea first."
Hapag-Lloyd's goal is to become 100% emissions-free by 2045. To cut fuel costs and CO2 emissions, the company has been sailing its ships at an average speed of 1.0 to 1.5 knots slower than before, Habben Jansen recently stated. So far, they have mainly concentrated on studying and obtaining "eco-friendly" fuels like "green" methanol.
"Contemporary liquid salt reactors shouldn't be compared to those massive facilities found on military aircraft carriers," said the CEO to Spiegel. It could take quite a while before it's clear whether an atomic engine is a viable possibility. "Perhaps we'll have a better idea within the next ten years."
Hapag-Lloyd has around 266 container ships and a yearly haulage capacity of 11.9 million standard containers (TEU), as per their own statements. There are only four bigger shipping companies - MSC from Switzerland, Maersk from Denmark, CMA/CGM from France, and Cosco from China. The Singaporean and Taiwanese tech shipping companies ONE and Evergreen are not far behind Hapag-Lloyd in size.
