Lloyd’s Register, Maersk and the ports of Felixstowe and Charleston are launching a project to examine what would be required to operate nuclear-powered containerships on a transatlantic route between the UK and US. Dubbed the “Pink Corridor”, the project will examine a hypothetical nuclear-powered containership trading between the two ports. The partners will assess what would be needed for the vessel to enter and operate safely in each port.
The study will focus on security, nuclear safeguards, cyber resilience, emergency response and insurance. It will also examine how maritime regulations could work alongside rules governing civilian nuclear technology.
The project does not involve deploying a nuclear-powered vessel. Instead, it aims to identify regulatory and operational gaps and determine what would need to change before a nuclear maritime corridor could become feasible.
The initiative comes as interest in nuclear propulsion grows across the shipping industry. In the US, the Maritime Administration has stepped up work on commercial nuclear shipping, including cooperation with CORE POWER on a potential fleet of US-flagged nuclear-powered merchant vessels.
The Pink Corridor builds on a 2024 assessment by Lloyd’s Register and CORE POWER, later expanded with Maersk. That study examined the safety, regulatory and operational requirements for using advanced nuclear technology in container shipping.
The first phase will define the scope of possible further studies covering engineering, legislation, regulation, security and nuclear safeguards.
For container shipping, the project offers a practical way to examine one of the biggest barriers to nuclear propulsion: not the technology itself, but the rules and infrastructure needed for nuclear-powered ships to operate in commercial ports.
