Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and US developer Mousterian Corporation have signed an engineering contract for the first deployment of a moored floating data centre in the United States.
The agreement advances the strategic cooperation framework signed by the companies in April 2026 and covers the design of purpose-built floating data centres, each providing 50 MW of IT capacity for deployment in Texas and other US locations.
The engineering programme is intended to establish the technical baseline for a future Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is expected to act as the project’s classification society.
According to the companies, the floating facilities are designed to be built in shipyards and deployed adjacent to existing power generation assets. The design uses bulk non-evaporative cooling, which requires no potable water and produces no process water discharge, while supporting high-density liquid-cooled AI computing.
The companies say the design also removes the need for conventional air-cooled chillers and fans, reducing operational noise.
“Signing this engineering contract transitions our partnership with Samsung Heavy Industries from intent to execution and gives us a clear path to scaling factory-built critical IT capacity for AI-class facilities,” said Min Suh, Chief Executive Officer of Mousterian Corporation.
The companies said off-site fabrication will allow construction of the floating facilities to take place in parallel with site preparation, with the aim of reducing deployment times compared with conventional land-based data centres.
“Floating data centres are a natural extension of the engineering, fabrication, and project delivery capabilities we have built over five decades in offshore and maritime construction,” said Choi Sung-An, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Samsung Heavy Industries.
