US start-up Deployable Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hornbeck Offshore Services to transform five strategic maritime and offshore markets through the use of Deployable Energy’s Unity Nuclear Battery (UNB). Hornbeck Offshore has also made a strategic investment in Deployable Energy.
Deployable Energy and Hornbeck Offshore plan to integrate advanced microreactor technology into the global maritime and offshore sectors. The UNB is a 1 MWe gas‑cooled microreactor that uses an actively cooled helium primary loop and standard low-enriched uranium dioxide fuel. It is engineered for factory manufacture and shipment in a standard 20-foot container for deployment in remote, distributed, maritime, and defence applications. Unlike traditional naval reactors that require custom hull designs, the Unity system is specifically engineered to integrate seamlessly into existing and future vessel types.
The UNB was the third Department of Energy (DOE)-authorised advanced reactor to go critical by the 4 July deadline set in President Trump’s May 2025 Executive Order (EO) 14301, Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy. Deployable Energy’s full-scale Unity demonstration reactor achieved criticality at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on 30 June.
The joint press release outlines the five strategic markets where the companies will focus development:
- Inland waterways: introducing zero-emission propulsion and auxiliary power to river tugs, towboats, and transport barges;
- Offshore vessels & platforms: enhancing energy endurance for deepwater oil, gas, and offshore wind service vessels;
- National security logistics & autonomous vessels: supporting defence marine transportation and long-endurance uncrewed platforms;
- Power barges: creating highly mobile, waterborne power stations that can be towed directly to areas facing grid failure or power shortages; and
- Floating data centres: providing firm, decoupled cooling and clean electricity directly to offshore or dockside digital infrastructure.
To transition this technology from concept to real-world infrastructure, a dedicated joint working group will focus on licensing pathways, regulatory approvals, and vessel economics.
The targeted 1 MWe power output per module will be scalable to multi-unit configurations. The refuelling interval will be more than five years. The aim is for at least a 20% reduction in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) compare with marine diesel. Multi-gigawatt fleet deployment across industrial and maritime applications is expected in 10 years. While the partnership is backed by a strategic equity investment from Hornbeck Offshore, both companies noted that the agreement is a MOU rather than a formal reactor supply order.
Real-world deployment remains strictly subject to a phased pathway that includes front-end engineering, detailed design, maritime classification approvals, and finalised commercial contracts. A full-power demonstration of the Unity reactor is slated to take place at the Idaho National Laboratory in 2027. The companies will establish a joint working group focused on vessel integration, economics, licensing pathways, financing, and commercial structures with a strong focus on near-term US applications.
“We are proud to partner with one of the leaders in the US maritime sector and one of the largest Jones Act vessel owners to usher in a commercial maritime nuclear industry,” said Bobby Gallagher, CEO and Co-Founder of Deployable Energy. “Todd Hornbeck and his founder-led operating experience coupled with his team’s proven ability to bring new technologies to market will enable us to move from demonstration to real-world deployment. Together, we’re forging a path to lower energy costs, greater endurance and entirely new maritime power applications.”
Hornbeck Offshore Chairman, President & CEO Todd M Hornbeck noted: “Deployable Energy’s speed of execution, culture, and ability to understand requirements in the maritime industry are why we chose them to partner on five priority maritime markets that can utilize compact nuclear power to improve economics, endurance and energy resilience. We are inspired by Bobby’s entrepreneurial spirit and his team’s innovative approach in the vital fight for energy dominance.”
Hornbeck Offshore Services is a provider of technologically advanced, high-specification offshore service vessels to the energy industry primarily in the Gulf of America and Latin America, as well as to US government, offshore wind and other non-oilfield customers.
Deployable Energy is currently the only commercial microreactor developer to have achieved both initial reactor criticality and an Approval in Principle (AIP) from a maritime classification society. The AIP, announced on 26 February, was awarded by Lloyd’s Register following an intensive technical collaboration and a Hazard Identification (HAZID) framework that began in late 2025. The approval specifically validated the concept of integrating Deployable Energy’s 1 MWe UNB into a hybrid nuclear-diesel propulsion system, using an amphibious stern landing vessel design as the foundational trial platform.
