ABS CEO: Nuclear power stands as shipping's next great frontier

Nuclear power should be taken seriously as a credible and scalable solution for the maritime industry’s decarbonization drive, with the potential to ‘reshape’ the sector’s future energy mix, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki has said.

As Wiernicki highlighted at a recent maritime event held in Athens, Greece: “Nuclear energy is no longer a distant possibility for maritime applications, it is emerging as a legitimate, practical, and scalable solution for a wide range of strategic uses. It is a credible long-term solution, not simply because of its potential to reduce emissions, but because it offers unmatched energy density, reliability, and strategic independence.”

The CEO of ABS—which has long been a proponent of the application of nuclear energy in maritime—further remarked that, within the maritime and energy sectors, the pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together to form the bigger picture: advanced reactor technologies, ‘robust’ Class rules, purpose-built testing sites, changing regulatory frameworks and “a growing appetite for public-private partnerships.”

Wiernicki stressed that a number of feasibility studies that would aim to explore the potential of nuclear energy in maritime are well