Japanese Shipping Company MOL Partners with Kinetics to Develop Next-Generation Floating Data Center Platform

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kinetics, the energy transition initiative of Turkish floating power company Karpowership, to jointly develop a next-generation floating data center platform.

Under the MOU, the two companies will collaborate on the design, construction, and deployment of a data center hosted on a retrofitted vessel. The powership, provided by Karadeniz, will be capable of using liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The partners have revealed that the data center is expected to have a capacity of 20 to 73 MW, a gross tonnage of 9,731 tons, a length of 120 meters, and a beam of 21.2 meters. It will have direct water cooling using seawater or river water.

The facility will be supplied with uninterrupted, dedicated power from a range of flexible sources, including powerships developed by Karpowership, as well as options to integrate land-based grids, onshore solar farms, offshore wind, or other power generation solutions depending on project location and client requirements.

The collaboration between Kinetics and MOL aims to address the surging global demand for digital infrastructure by offering “a scalable, mobile, and rapidly deployable” alternative to traditional land-based data centers. This floating platform overcomes challenges such as power constraints, land scarcity, and permitting delays.

“By pairing mobile power generation with floating data infrastructure, we are addressing critical market bottlenecks while enabling faster, cleaner, and more flexible digital capacity expansion,” said Mehmet Katmer, Chief Executive Officer of Kinetics.

“This MOU represents an important step forward in leveraging the MOL Group’s assets and extensive expertise in ship operations to rapidly build digital infrastructure while minimizing environmental impact. Moving forward, we will continue to expand a diverse range of social infrastructure businesses centered on the shipping industry,” added Tomoaki Ichida, Managing Executive Officer of MOL.

This MOU marks the first dedicated collaboration between the companies towards delivering sustainable solutions for the digital age. Following successful feasibility studies and ongoing technical developments, the first floating data center project is targeted for deployment in 2027.

In a related development, Kinetics recently made a strategic investment in Power to Hydrogen, a U.S.-based manufacturer of anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers, to support innovation and decarbonization in the energy and maritime industries.