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As demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers surges, global shipowners are turning their attention to "data centers on the sea." They aim to expand revenue beyond the existing business of owning vessels and receiving charter fees by long-term leasing offshore data centers to big tech or cloud operators. Among Korean shipbuilders, Samsung Heavy Industries was the first to join hands with a global shipowner to commercialize a floating data center (FDC).
◇Beyond ships to leasing data centers… inquiries from shipowners for collaboration are pouring in
On the 7th, according to the shipbuilding industry, Samsung Heavy Industries recently received collaboration inquiries on the FDC business from multiple global shipowners. Among them, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a joint FDC development project with the Greek shipowner Capital Clean Energy Carriers (hereinafter Capital).
An FDC is a data center installed on a floating structure on a river or at sea, not on land. Large AI data centers require vast sites, massive power, and cooling facilities, but the United States and Europe have recently faced difficulties due to delays in grid interconnection and site shortages. An FDC can be installed in ports, coastal areas, or on rivers, reducing the burden on land sites and using seawater as a cooling source to lower the burden of cooling facilities.
Shipowners are interested in FDCs because they offer a relatively stable revenue structure. Existing vessels such as crude oil tankers, LNG carriers, and container ships see profitability swing widely with the freight cycle. In contrast, data centers are infrastructure with expected long-term demand as AI and cloud adoption spreads. If a model takes hold in which a shipowner owns an FDC and a big tech or cloud operator uses it for an extended period, it becomes a new business model that expands ship assets into digital infrastructure.
Jerry Kalogiratos, CEO of the shipowner Capital that partnered with Samsung Heavy Industries, said, "This collaboration seeks new opportunities at the intersection of maritime and digital infrastructure," adding, "As AI spreads, computing demand is rising rapidly, and floating data centers are becoming a solution with scalability and flexibility."
Not only shipowners but also actual demand sources; big tech and cloud operators, have begun to see offshore data centers as one of their options. Samsung affiliates signed a letter of intent (LOI) in Oct. last year with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, for cooperation on global AI data center infrastructure. Among them, Samsung C&T and Samsung Heavy Industries agreed to pursue joint development of floating data centers with OpenAI.
◇Samsung Heavy Industries moves ahead with a 50 MW-class design… tasks include verifying power and server stability
Leveraging its experience designing and building floating offshore facilities, Samsung Heavy Industries is accelerating the commercialization of FDCs. An FDC is a business that must reliably integrate not only server space but also power, cooling, communications, and safety systems within an offshore structure. Based on offshore plant experience such as FLNG (floating liquefied natural gas production facilities), Samsung Heavy Industries completed a 50 MW-class FDC concept design and received approval in principle in April from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Lloyd's Register.
The power supply method is also a core technology of FDCs. The FDC envisioned by Samsung Heavy Industries can be installed in coastal areas or ports to receive external power via subsea cables and can also be equipped with its own power generation facilities. The 50 MW-class model now being developed as a standard type is considering a self-generation system using a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) method that uses LNG as fuel. Because it can use both external power and onboard generation, Samsung Heavy Industries said it can reduce the burden of grid interconnection compared with land-based data centers.
Experiments with surface and subsea data centers are underway overseas as well. Nautilus Data Technologies in the United States is operating a 6.5 MW barge-type data center at the Port of Stockton, California, and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) in Japan is considering converting used vessels into data centers. China put a 24 MW subsea data center into operation last month about 10 kilometers offshore from Lingang, Shanghai. Shanghai HiCloud Technology, the operator, said the facility uses offshore wind power and seawater cooling to cut power consumption by 22.8% compared with conventional land-based data centers, while reducing the use of fresh water for cooling and the burden of securing large land sites.
However, many say it will take time for large FDCs to take root as a full-fledged revenue business. Offshore structures are exposed to vibration, inclination, salinity, and humidity changes, so the stability of precision servers must be verified. To confirm the conditions for reliably operating AI servers in a marine environment, Samsung Heavy Industries recently signed a joint development cooperation agreement with the U.S. AI server company Supermicro.
An industry official said, "Rather than immediately replacing land-based data centers, FDCs are more likely to be used first in coastal cities or island regions with severe power and site constraints," adding, "The success or failure of the initial market will hinge on whether sufficient operational data is accumulated and whether strict permitting standards are met."
https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-industry/2026/06/07/HMXMWLKFTBFLNDSDLMPTAWNDEY/