Manufacturing line/Cargo vessels/Oil tanker
Autonomous · Cargo vessels

Oil tanker

Two million barrels behind a double hull, run without a single person aboard.

Phase 7 · 2033+Concept design
Capacity
2,000,000 bbl
Deadweight
300,000 t
Fuel burn
≈ 3.3 g fissile / hr
Crew
0
I · Blueprint
Side elevation, live systems
DWLForepeakballastLOA 333 mCargo block · 6 segregations · 2,000,000 bbl030911070810151617180213140501040612SECTION A–A · MIDSHIP, LOOKING FORWARDDWLCrude oilP/V valveDouble side ballastDouble bottomWing cargo tankCargo mainsInert gas mainCatwalkLongitudinal bulkheadCentre cargo tankBottom suction lineBeam 60 mB · CARGO PUMP ROOMto cargo main → manifold← suction from tanksSealed motorCargo pumpStripping pumpDischarge riser3 × 5,000 m³/h sealed setsC · REACTOR, SCHEMATICSecondary loopto steam generatorShieldControl rodsFuel salt in coreHeat exchangerPrimary pumpMolten-salt reactor, 75 MWtRefuel interval 20 years
01Propeller & rudderPropulsion
02Compact molten-salt reactor modulePower
03Sensor mast & autonomy core — no bridge, zero crewStructure
04Shaft line, thrust & plummer bearings, stern tubePropulsion
05Power electronics & 3 MWh battery bufferPower
06Permanent-magnet propulsion motorPropulsion
07Sealed electric cargo pump room — 3 setsCargo
08Cargo tanks — 2 million barrels, 6 segregationsCargo
09Hull, double bottom & watertight bulkheadsStructure
10Deck pipeline & midship manifoldCargo
11Double hull — protective void spacesStructure
12Bow thrusterPropulsion
13Steam generator on the secondary loopPower
14Steam turbine-generatorPower
15Slop tanksCargo
16Bottom suction linesCargo
17Inert gas main & P/V vent valvesCargo
18Hose-handling craneCargo
II · Power & drivetrain

No fuel oil aboard an oil ship.

The only liquid hydrocarbons on board are cargo. Propulsion comes from a sealed reactor module and an all-electric drive, so there are no bunker tanks to spill.

Reactor module and pump drives — rotating view
The 75 MWt molten-salt reactor and its steam generator feed two 16 MW turbo-generators side by side over one condenser, 30 MWe net. The bus drives the 27 MW propulsion motor and, in port, the three sealed cargo-pump motors at right; at sea the pumps are idle and the reactor runs at full power.
01Molten-salt reactor vessel — 75 MWt, sealed 20-year core
02Primary salt pump — on the vessel head
03Steam generator — salt to supercritical steam
04Turbo-generators — 2 × 16 MW, 3 stages each, 3,600 rpm; 30 MWe net
05Condenser — one for both turbines, sea-water cooled
06Propulsion motor — 27 MW at 16 kn, single shaft
07Cargo-pump motors — 3 × 2 MW, sealed, pumps in the pump room below
08Decay-heat drain tank — passive, under the vessel
Propeller — 5 blades
Power plantMolten-salt reactor, 75 MWt
Shaft output≈ 27 MW at 16 kn
FuelLow-enriched uranium fuel salt
Consumption≈ 3.3 g fissile / hr
Metal content≈ 90% of lightship
Naked drivetrain — energy to motion
III · How it is put together

Built in blocks, joined, then brought to life.

Blocks are fabricated in parallel, joined in sequence, and the power module and autonomy core go in last. The loop below replays the build order.

POWER MODULE
I
Keel & double-bottom blocks
II
Hull blocks joined in dry dock
III
Power module lowered in
IV
Sensor mast & autonomy core fitted
V
Unmanned sea trials
IV · Specification

Concept specification.

Design specification for the autonomous oil tanker.

Length overall
333 m
Beam
60 m
Capacity
2,000,000 bbl
Deadweight
300,000 t
Hull
Double hull, 6 segregations
Discharge
15,000 m³/h, ≈ 21 h
Power plant
Molten-salt reactor, 75 MWt
Consumption
≈ 3.3 g fissile / hr
Service speed
16 kn
Electric output
30 MWe net, 40% cycle
Shaft output
≈ 27 MW at 16 kn
Cargo pumps
3 × 2 MW, from the same bus
Refuel interval
20 years
Metal content
≈ 90% of lightship
Crew
0 — fully autonomous
Onboard compute
Three AI modules and a plant that never needs a tanker’s crew
Modules3 AI modules (navigation; perception; plant & cargo — reactor plant, inerting, pumps) + 2 certified safety controllers
CPU48 cores (3 × 16) + 4 lockstep real-time cores per module
AI throughput15,000 TOPS total (3 × 5,000, INT8 / FP4 sparse)
Memory3 × 128 GB LPDDR6, 600 GB/s per module; 8 TB solid-state voyage log
Power draw300 W compute; ≈ 1.1 kW with 20 cameras, 4 lidars and 3 radars — 0.004% of the 30 MWe plant
Process node2 nm-class SoCs; safety controllers on a mature 16 nm node, 15-year supply
RedundancyEvery sensor is wired to two modules. Each module is primary for its zone and hot standby for the next: navigation backs perception, perception backs plant and cargo, plant and cargo backs navigation. Any one module can bring the ship to a safe drift or anchorage. Two independent SIL 3 safety controllers hold the reactor trip, cargo-valve emergency shutdown, steering and shaft interlocks.
Sensors20 cameras (visible and thermal) aggregated over automotive Ethernet through camera switches into the modules, 4 lidars for berthing, 3 radars, AIS, echo sounder, tank level and inert-gas sensors, 1,500 plant sensors
LinkLow-orbit satellite at sea (plan updates each minute; the planning model runs aboard); fibre and private 5G in port
Service lifeCompute is a line-replaceable unit, swapped at mid-life with the year-20 refuelling; the hull and plant run 40 years
With no fuel oil aboard, the plant-and-cargo module’s job is the reactor plant and the cargo: loading sequence, inert-gas blanket and pump scheduling from the same bus. Every command passes from the ship agent through the certified safety channel to the drives and pumps, and each drive closes its own current loop every 1 ms. A software fault can never drive the ship outside its certified safe envelope: two SIL 3 controllers hold the reactor trip, steering, shaft and the cargo-valve emergency shutdown on their own sensors (shaft and rudder encoders, neutron-flux channels, tank oxygen analysers, a safety-rated radar), independent of every AI module.
Today vs IC
Power and cargo: today’s VLCC beside the IC design
Today · very large crude carrierIC design
Size310,000 dwt, 339.5 × 60 m300,000 dwt, 333 × 60 m, 2,000,000 bbl
LayoutEngine room aft under the deckhouse and bridge; single screwNo deckhouse. Sensor mast and autonomy core aft, over the reactor module
Machinery1 × two-stroke diesel, 25–29 MW at 75–79 rpm, direct drive to a 9.7–10 m propellerMolten-salt reactor, 75 MWt → 30 MWe; 27 MW electric motor → 1 propeller
Fuel burn≈ 104 t of fuel oil a day at 15.5 kn≈ 79 g of fissile fuel a day at 16 kn; no bunker tanks
Cargo pumps3 × 5,000 m³/h cargo pumps and a stripping pump3 × 5,000 m³/h sealed electric pumps, 3 × 2 MW from the ship’s bus
Crew30 berths0. Supervised from shore through The Brain
The IC column is the design shown on this page. Sources for the Today column are listed in BUILD_NOTES.md.
Runs on The Brain
Every movement of this machine is planned by The Brain’s orchestration layer, mirrored in the port’s digital twin, and re-planned the moment reality drifts.
See how it works →
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