Hyundai Glovis and US-based Liberty Global Logistics (LGL) have signed a memorandum of understanding to examine the commercial operation of a nuclear-powered pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) between South Korea and the United States, moving the project from concept design into regulatory, port-infrastructure and financial feasibility work.

The agreement pairs Seoul-headquartered Hyundai Glovis with LGL to study what it would take to deploy a small modular reactor (SMR)-driven car carrier on the transpacific vehicle trade.

What does each side bring to the table?

LGL will lead the US leg of the assessment, focusing initially on West Coast ports and the federal and state approvals, infrastructure and operating conditions needed to accommodate a nuclear-propelled merchant ship. Hyundai Glovis will run a parallel assessment in South Korea. The two companies will also jointly evaluate shipbuilding, flag state and classification requirements.

LGL president David Minetti framed the work as a step beyond a vessel-design exercise. "As a long-standing partner of Hyundai Glovis, we are pleased to work together to examine not simply whether an SMR-powered vessel can be built, but what it would take for that vessel to operate safely, efficiently, and commercially between the United States and South Korea," Minetti said.

Where does the technical work stand?

Hyundai Glovis has already cleared a key engineering gate. At Posidonia in June, Lloyd's Register awarded approval in principle (AiP) to an SMR-powered PCTC developed with Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, G-Marine Service and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. That study covered molten salt reactor integration, including shielding, stability, propulsion arrangements and the impact on cargo capacity.

The technical review, however, did not resolve the harder questions that the new MOU now puts on the table: whether a nuclear-powered commercial ship can secure the regulatory clearances, port permissions and classification sign-offs needed to operate at scale on a fixed trade lane.

What does this mean for shippers and operators?

For vehicle exporters and OEMs shipping on the Korea-US lane, the project signals a potential long-term shift in propulsion economics, but not a near-term capacity option. The MOU commits neither party to a newbuilding order or a deployment date. It sets up a multi-year feasibility process covering licensing, terminal modifications and crewing.

For ports, the study brings forward questions about radiation safety zones, emergency response capability and infrastructure investment at candidate West Coast terminals that have not historically handled nuclear-propelled commercial tonnage. For classification societies, it adds a new workload around flag-state rules for SMR installations at sea.

Hyundai Glovis said the tie-up would help establish the conditions required for actual commercial operation as the company broadens its focus from LNG dual-fuel PCTC newbuildings toward next-generation zero-carbon propulsion.

What comes next?

The partners have not disclosed a target in-service date or a preferred vessel size in car-equivalent units. With the AiP secured and the regulatory and commercial studies now running in parallel on both sides of the Pacific, the trajectory of the project will hinge on how quickly US and Korean authorities engage on nuclear merchant shipping rules, and on whether the shipbuilding consortium can hold the molten salt reactor design together with the cargo capacity requirements for high-and-heavy vehicle exports.