‘No nuclear, no net zero’: Shipping experts confront decarbonisation dilemma at LISW25 roundtable
Nuclear energy must be on the table if shipping has any hope of meeting the IMO’s net zero targets by 2050, a panel of industry leaders warned at London International Shipping Week.
At a packed seminar hosted by Indian Register of Shipping, experts debated whether nuclear propulsion could be the “missing piece” in maritime decarbonisation. The consensus: without government backing, investors will not take the risk, and without nuclear, shipping cannot reach its climate goals.
“The private sector does not like technology risks or long lead times, and overcoming those doubts will take significant effort,” the panel said. “Governments must underwrite nuclear as a green fuel, otherwise the investment simply won’t come.”
One of the panellists laid out the scale of the challenge: “The latest figures show that just 0.4% of fuel used in shipping is alternative fuel in total, how do we go from that? Shipping will be competing with every sector for all the carbon-free molecules. Nuclear can provide all the energy we need. I don’t see any other way.”
Other panellists struck a stark tone, warning that the industry is “buying time rather than delivering transformation.” Some described nuclear as shipping’s “only chance” of hitting net zero, while others cautioned that public suspicion around nuclear energy remains a major barrier.
Speakers at the event included renowned maritime economist Dr. Martin Stopford; Capt. Savraj Mehta, Chief Commercial Officer, NorthStandard; Arun Sharma, Executive Chairman, Indian Register of Shipping; Gihan Ismail, Director, Marine Capital; Ms. Unni Einemo, Marine Regulations Lead, Core Power (UK) Ltd, and Anouskha Bachraz, Director, Transportation Advisory, Societe Generale. The discussion was moderated by Martin White, CEO of Stream Marine.
The debate ended with a clear message: nuclear propulsion may divide opinion, but without a coordinated push from regulators, investors, and industry, shipping’s decarbonisation pathway looks increasingly uncertain.