{"slug": "samsung-takes-floating-data-center-plans-into-engineering-phase", "title": "Samsung Takes Floating Data Center Plans Into Engineering Phase", "summary": "Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) signed an engineering contract with Texas-based Mousterian Corporation to develop floating data centers, each delivering 50 MW of critical IT capacity, with deployments planned in Texas and other US markets. The agreement moves the concept into the engineering phase, targeting commercialization by the second quarter of 2028, as part of a broader industry trend toward maritime AI infrastructure.", "body_md": "# Samsung Takes Floating Data Center Plans Into Engineering Phase\n\nSamsung’s floating data centers mark a potential shift toward maritime solutions to meet the rising demands of AI infrastructure.\n\nSamsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has taken another step towards developing a fleet of floating data centers after signing an engineering contract with Mousterian Corporation, a Texas-based infrastructure developer.\n\nThe agreement is the latest sign that [floating data centers](/sustainability/riding-the-wave-the-rise-of-floating-data-centers) are moving beyond conceptual proposals as developers explore maritime infrastructure to address power availability, land constraints, and cooling challenges for AI workloads. Supporters say floating facilities can be deployed alongside existing power generation while using surrounding water to help cool increasingly dense AI infrastructure.\n\nIn a news release today (August 3), SHI said the strategic cooperation will see the two companies jointly complete the basic and production engineering for purpose-built, moored floating data center units.\n\nAccording to SHI, each floating data center will deliver 50 MW of critical IT capacity, with deployments planned in Texas and other US markets.\n\n## Taking to the Seas\n\nSHI [unveiled the concept](https://www.lr.org/en/knowledge/press-room/press-listing/press-release/2026/lr-shi-and-capital-clean-energy-carriers-corp-to-move-forward-on-floating-data-centre-designs/) at the Posidonia 2026 exhibition in June, pitching floating data centers as an alternative to land-based facilities facing increasing constraints around available sites, power, and cooling.\n\nThe company said the design uses non-evaporative cooling that requires no potable water, supports liquid-cooled AI workloads, and is intended to operate with lower noise levels than conventional facilities.\n\nOther partners in the initiative include Greece-based Capital Clean Energy Carriers and Lloyd’s Register. [According to](https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/07/06/samsung-heavy-industries-to-launch-floating-data-center-by) the Seoul Economic Daily, SHI aims to commercialize the platform by the second quarter of 2028.\n\nSung-an Choi (left), vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries, and Min Suh, CEO of Mousterian Corporation. (Image: Samsung Heavy Industries)\n\n## From Concept to Engineering\n\nThe pilot aims to demonstrate that shipyard construction can proceed in parallel with site preparation, potentially accelerating deployment of hyperscale AI infrastructure.\n\n“Signing this engineering contract transitions our partnership from intent to execution and gives us a clear path to scaling factory-built critical IT capacity for AI-class facilities,” said Min Suh, CEO of Mousterian.\n\nSuh said building the facilities to shipyard standards allows fabrication to proceed in parallel with site work while enabling deployment alongside existing baseload power generation that may be inaccessible to conventional land-based developments.\n\nSamsung Heavy Industries vice chairman and CEO Sung-an Choi said floating data centers build on the company’s decades of offshore engineering and shipbuilding experience.\n\n## Momentum Builds for Floating Data Centers\n\nSamsung joins a growing list of companies exploring floating data centers as demand for AI infrastructure intensifies.\n\nAs [previously reported](/next-gen-data-centers/japanese-shipping-firm-to-develop-world-s-first-integrated-floating-data-center-platform) by Data Center Knowledge, Japanese shipping giant Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) partnered with renewable energy company Kinetics in 2025 to develop what the companies described as the world’s first integrated floating data center platform.\n\nIn April 2026, MOL also [announced](/next-gen-data-centers/hitachi-mol-to-launch-floating-data-centers-in-2027) a separate partnership with Hitachi to develop floating data centers using converted vessels, targeting commercial deployment starting in 2027.\n\nMore recently, China [announced completion](https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202510/21/content_WS68f72c76c6d00ca5f9a06f20.html) of what it described as the world’s first wind-powered underwater data center in Shanghai’s Lin-gang Special Area, a 24 MW facility backed by an investment of 1.6 billion yuan (approximately $226 million).\n\nWhether floating data centers prove commercially viable at scale remains to be seen. Still, the growing number of engineering partnerships suggests developers are increasingly treating the approach as a potential solution to the power and siting constraints facing AI infrastructure.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/samsung-takes-floating-data-center-plans-into-engineering-phase", "canonical_source": "https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/next-gen-data-centers/samsung-takes-floating-data-center-plans-into-engineering-phase", "published_at": "2026-08-03 20:45:57+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-03 21:04:50.330687+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Samsung Heavy Industries", "Mousterian Corporation", "Min Suh", "Sung-an Choi", "Capital Clean Energy Carriers", "Lloyd's Register", "Mitsui OSK Lines", "Hitachi"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/samsung-takes-floating-data-center-plans-into-engineering-phase", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/samsung-takes-floating-data-center-plans-into-engineering-phase.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/samsung-takes-floating-data-center-plans-into-engineering-phase.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/samsung-takes-floating-data-center-plans-into-engineering-phase.jsonld"}}