Global shipping and energy supply chain company Crowley has teamed with nuclear power company BWX Technologies, Inc. through a memorandum of understanding for a ship concept that has the potential to generate alternative, zero-carbon emission energy for defense and disaster needs by including a microreactor on board.
The new MOU with BWXT’s Advanced Technologies subsidiary will allow both companies to jointly pursue and develop opportunities relative to the design, engineering and development of new shallow-draft hull ships that will supply small-scale nuclear energy to shoreside locations. The new ships would feature the latest technology available for factory fabricated microreactors, readily deployed into a shipyard configuration for ease of installation on the vessel. The onboard power plant would supply energy to shore facilities, such as military bases in remote island locations, backup utility grids after disasters, and provide power in other scenarios where traditional electricity sources are damaged or not possible.
The new vessel concept envisions a 378-foot ship that pulls from the logistics and marine capabilities of Crowley, a longtime operator with in-house vessel design by its Crowley Engineering Services, and the nuclear capabilities of BWXT, a supplier of nuclear components, fuel and services to the U.S. government for more than 60 years. Both Crowley and BWXT have been in business for more than a century.
BWX Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., is a manufacturing and engineering company that provides nuclear solutions for global security, clean energy, environmental restoration, nuclear medicine and space exploration.
Crowley, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. is a privately held, U.S.-owned and -operated maritime, energy and logistics solutions company serving commercial and government sectors with $3.4 billion in annual revenues, over 170 vessels mostly in the Jones Act fleet and approximately 7,000 employees around the world.
