Floating Data Centers Emerge as Maritime Industry’s Next Big Opportunity

As global demand for data storage and processing accelerates driven by cloud computing, streaming media, and the explosive growth of artificial intelligence, a new frontier is emerging for the maritime industry. Land-based data centers face mounting constraints including limited space, water scarcity, grid congestion, long permitting timelines, and rising community opposition. Against that backdrop, a once-niche concept is moving rapidly into the mainstream: floating data centers. But what exactly makes these offshore installations so attractive, and why are major technology companies suddenly paying close attention?

The Case for Floating Data Centers

At the core of the floating data center concept is one primary advantage that cannot be replicated on land: access to unlimited cooling water. Traditional land-based data centers consume enormous volumes of freshwater for cooling, often drawn from rivers, aquifers, or municipal systems, and substantially lost to evaporation. In contrast, floating data centers use surrounding water bodies as a closed-loop cooling medium. You’ve got an essentially unlimited source of cooling water that you’re not consuming, and that’s a huge advantage in a world where freshwater is becoming increasingly precious, explained Mike Complita, Principal in Charge and Vice President of Strategic Expansion at Elliott Bay Design Group.

Environmental Impact and Real-World Validation

Environmental concerns around thermal discharge are often raised when discussing floating installations, but real-world data from the Stockton, California floating data center suggests those fears may be overstated. Studies conducted prior to deployment—and validated during years of operation—found that temperature changes in the surrounding water were negligible within just a short distance of the hull. Beyond cooling, floating platforms offer rapid deployment timelines of roughly two to three years compared with five to eight years for large land-based facilities. They provide mobility and flexibility, being built on barge platforms that can be relocated, expanded, or redeployed as demand shifts. They reduce land use by eliminating the need to clear forests, rezone land, or build massive new concrete structures.

Pioneering Experience in Floating Technology

Few firms have deeper firsthand experience in this emerging space than Elliott Bay Design Group. The Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm helped design and support construction of what is widely regarded as the world’s first operational floating data center, an installation in Stockton, California that has been operating successfully for several years. That first project gave us real insight into what works, what doesn’t, and where the market could go, Complita said. At the time, it was a bit ahead of the market. Now, with AI and data growth, the interest has come back in a big way. Today, EBDG offers the industry its expertise from an internal crew of over 70 professionals, a number that has grown steadily alongside strong market demand for specialized marine design services.

The Power Challenge

While cooling is a natural advantage offshore, power generation remains the most significant technical and economic hurdle. Modern data centers are extraordinarily power-hungry. Even relatively small installations require 10 to 12 megawatts, while current market inquiries are clustering around 30 to 80 megawatts, with AI-focused facilities pushing into the 100 to 300 megawatt range. To put that in perspective, that’s far more power than most ships use just to operate, Complita explained. The amount of onboard generation, fuel storage, and redundancy required is enormous. For fully autonomous floating data centers, those not tied into shore power, the space required for generators, fuel, exhaust systems, and redundancy can exceed the footprint of the data center itself.

From Prototype to Scale

The Stockton floating data center, operating in the 10 to 12 megawatt range, served as a functional prototype for the industry. Today’s market interest is dramatically larger, with baseline requests now at 30 megawatts and most clustering in the 50 to 80 megawatt range. Once AI comes into play, that jumps even higher. At those scales, floating data centers are no longer single platforms but modular fleets, multiple barges operating together, offering scalability unmatched by land-based construction. That scalability is another big advantage—you don’t have to build everything at once. You can grow as demand grows. For shipyards, designers, and marine equipment suppliers, floating data centers could represent an interesting opportunity: a high-value, technology-driven market that leverages core maritime expertise while opening the door to a rapidly expanding digital economy.