Move over bit barns, here come Japan’s floating bit barges

Japanese shipping biz Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is planning to fit out a ship as a floating datacenter that can draw energy from the shore or from an accompanying powership.

The company is one of the largest shipping concerns in the world, so it makes sense to use a ship's hull if you want to create a floating bit barn (or should that be bit barge?)

MOL says it intends to build a facility with a capacity of 20 to 73 MW, with direct water cooling for the infrastructure using seawater or river water, depending on where the vessel is moored. It is planned to be operational by 2027, and the company hints that more may follow.

The first unit will use an unidentified 120-meter 9,731-ton vessel for the conversion, and ...