China has unveiled ambitious plans to build a 14,000 teu containership powered by a thorium-based molten salt reactor (MSR), marking a major step toward nuclear propulsion in commercial shipping.
The concept vessel, to be developed by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) in partnership with the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), will feature a next-generation reactor designed to deliver zero-emission propulsion with extended operational endurance. According to early design reports from Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI), the ship will operate without the need for conventional bunker fuels, relying entirely on a closed-loop thorium MSR system expected to generate several hundred megawatts of thermal energy.
Project sources suggest the design phase will be completed in 2026, with construction potentially commencing towards the end of this decade at a CSSC-affiliated yard. If realised, it could become the world’s first container vessel powered by thorium molten salt technology—a breakthrough long championed by Chinese nuclear engineers for its safety, efficiency, and scalability advantages over traditional uranium reactors.
Chinese authorities have reportedly greenlit preliminary safety assessments for the project, though international regulatory hurdles remain significant. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has yet to finalise specific frameworks for the operation of nuclear-powered merchant vessels.
State-run Jiangnan Shipyard unveiled a design for a 24,000 teu ship incorporating molten salt reactor technology (pictured) at the last edition of the Marintec China exhibition two years ago, a show due to return next month.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on November 1 that the country has successfully achieved the first-ever thorium-to-uranium nuclear fuel conversion in a 2-MW thermal liquid-fuelled thorium molten salt reactor. It is currently the world’s only operating molten salt reactor to have successfully introduced thorium fuel, providing initial proof of the technical feasibility of using thorium resources in molten salt nuclear systems.
