Floating Data-Centers!

Samsung Heavy Industries has partnered with global shipowner Capital Clean Energy Carriers and Lloyd’s Register to develop data centres that can operate at sea instead of being constructed on land. The proposed facilities would house large numbers of servers capable of supporting AI applications and other computing workloads. The project is designed to address some of the major challenges facing traditional data centres, including the need for large amounts of land, electricity and cooling. By placing the facilities on ships, companies could potentially use seawater-based cooling systems while also gaining greater flexibility over where the data centres are deployed. The planned floating facility is expected to have a capacity of 50 megawatts, which could support tens of thousands of AI servers. When positioned near a port or coastline, the facility could receive electricity from the power grid through underwater cables. It could also generate its own electricity using fuel cells powered by liquefied natural gas, according to the report. Capital Clean Energy Carriers CEO Jerry Kalogiratos described floating data centres as a scalable and flexible option, with the added advantage that they can be moved when required. The concept could also create a new business opportunity for shipowners. Instead of using ships only for transporting goods or other purposes, companies could potentially lease floating data centres to technology companies and cloud service providers. However, operating sensitive computer equipment at sea presents significant technical challenges. Samsung Heavy Industries and Supermicro are testing whether AI servers can function reliably in a marine environment for extended periods. Their studies are examining the possible effects of ship movement, vibration, saltwater, humidity and moisture on computer hardware. Samsung is not alone in exploring this technology. Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines is developing a 73-megawatt floating data centre with Turkish energy company Karpowership, with plans for a 2027 launch. Elsewhere, China has begun operating a 24-megawatt underwater data centre near Shanghai, while US-based Nautilus Data Technologies already operates a smaller 6.5-megawatt floating data centre on a barge at the Port of Stockton. Samsung's proposed project highlights how the rapid growth of AI is pushing companies to explore unconventional locations and technologies for building the enormous computing infrastructure needed to power the next generation of AI systems.