Old cargo vessels could be repurposed as floating data centres (FDC) following an agreement between shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines and Hitachi Systems.
Due to a combination of intense competition for land and limited local resources, data centres often face difficulties in finding locations that can support their demands for electricity, space and water.
The recent agreement will see Hitachi converting second-hand vessels from Mitsui in a bid to ease the deployment of data centres during a period of rapid growth led by AI technologies. As well as side-stepping concerns over local infrastructure availability and environmental regulations, the firms estimate that FDCs will take approximately one year to come online, compared to up to three years with conventional, land-based data centre development. This is partly because much of the infrastructure has already been built, such as local energy and cooling networks. They can also be moved to different areas to cope with fluctuating demand.
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