South Korean defense and technology company Hanwha Ocean presented a 60MW Floating Data Center (FDC) at Gastech Exhibition & Conference 2026, which takes place in Bangkok, Thailand, between 14 and 17 September.
According to the company’s statement, FDC is an “innovative alternative” to conventional land-based data centers. The solution is designed to operate offshore, generating its own power and using seawater-based cooling systems to improve energy efficiency.
“As the rapid growth of AI continues to drive unprecedented demand for data centers worldwide, conventional land-based facilities face growing challenges, including massive power requirements, limited site availability, cooling efficiency constraints, and local community concerns surrounding new developments,” Hanwha Ocean highlighted.
A key feature of FDC is its modular design, which allows power generation and supply methods, server types, and data center capacity to be flexibly configured to meet customer requirements and fit the local environment.
Hanwha Ocean has previously secured Approval in Principle (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for the FDC design, validating the technical feasibility of the concept.
Several firms have explored the FDC concept before. At the forefront of this is American company Nautilus Data Technologies, which commissioned its first waterborne data center in 2021. FDC platforms were also developed by Japanese Mitsui O.S.K. Lines in partnership with Kinetics, American start-up Panthalassa, and more.