[AngelaSG]

Dear all,

I'm a student from Politecnico di Milano directing my dissertation project about the viability to use nuclear reactors instead of fuel for cargo ships considering the rising cost of fuel. I have been struggling to get information related to fuel cost (in percentage) with respect to the overall cost of a trip. I have found different websites were I can calculate how much fuel could consume a cargo ship depending on the type of vessel and the distance, but I would like to have a picture what is the weight of that cost with regards the other cost, for example, fuel cost represents a 10%

I want to start my analysis from this point in order to understand if economically speaking, now days it could be consider the propulsion by nuclear reactors instead of fuel (the fuel cost has significantly rise since the 60`s when the fist ships using nuclear reactors were build).  I am aware there are some vessels build and functioning but all of them are for military services, where cost is not an issue nor a constrain. My research is directed to commercial vessels.

I would appreciate very much if you could share with me any information gather so far.

Thanks a lot for your attention and time.

[imatfaal]

Angela

I work as a broker for a tanker owner.  To move a million barrels of oil (that's approx 130,000mt) you will consume about 50 mt of Intermediate Fuel Oil per day.  At present prices this is about US$31,000 per day for a ship travelling at 14knots - or 86 bucks per nautical mile!

On the most recent voyage I contracted for (wednesday) the fuel costs would be around 92% of the voyage costs (these are the marginal costs the owner incurs for doing the voyage) - whereas the the fuel costs would make  up about 60% of the total expenses of running the ship (ie including the crew, insurance, maintenance, ME).  If you include a contribution to the cost of purchasing the ship (any where between 50-100 million bucks) then this percentage will vary massively - but the variation is dependent on the initial cost and the structure of any loan so cannot be easily estimated.

To avoid boring the forum members - you can pm any questions that you have if you would prefer. 

[CliffordK]

One thing to keep in mind.

In New Zealand, there is a simple cargo ship MV Rena that has run aground in the last week.  In all likelihood, it will break up and sink.

It has already spilled about 350 tonnes of fuel oil into the sea, with more than 1000 tonnes still onboard.

Due to the oil alone, it is being considered one of New Zealand's biggest disasters.

If it had been a nuclear powered ship, then everything would be 10x worse, at least in the eyes of the public and the media.

Could one design a reactor core to be a modular unit?  Capable of withstanding a ship sinking, and capable of being disconnected and removed from the ship intact?  That would mean that it should be under the weight capacity of the Russian MI-26 helicopter of about 20,000 kg, and have some kind of a reinforced case.

As was apparent in Fukushima disaster, the cooling requirements of the nuclear reactors remain high for significant periods after the shutdown process is begun.