HD Hyundai and Hanwha Ocean to Showcase Gas and Floating Data Centre Technologies at Gastech 2026

HD Hyundai and Hanwha Ocean will present new gas-shipping, alternative-fuel and floating data centre technologies at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok, as South Korean shipbuilders expand their focus on lower-emission shipping and offshore digital infrastructure.

Gastech 2026 is being held from Monday through Thursday in Bangkok. The event is expected to attract more than 50,000 visitors and around 1,000 companies, according to the organisers.

HD Hyundai to Present Next-Generation LNG and CO2 Carrier Technologies

Five HD Hyundai affiliates will participate in Gastech 2026: HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Samho, HD Hyundai Marine Solution and HD Hyundai Electric.

The companies will display models covering next-generation LNG carriers, floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) and liquefied carbon dioxide carriers.

HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering President Kim Hyung-kwan will attend the event alongside senior executives from the group’s sales, research and development and engineering divisions.

The group is scheduled to receive design appraisal from Lloyd’s Register for a next-generation LNG carrier incorporating a forward accommodation block and multiple wind-assisted propulsion systems.

HD Hyundai to Seek Approvals for Four Technologies

HD Hyundai will also receive approval-in-principle certifications for three technologies at the event.

These include a design intended to replace minimum pressure requirements for C-type liquefied-gas tanks, a 35,000-cubic-metre liquefied carbon dioxide carrier and a hybrid-electric propulsion system for a 185,000-cubic-metre LNG carrier.

The group will also present an artificial intelligence-based solution designed to optimise engine operations on LNG carriers. The technology is scheduled to receive both approval-in-principle certification and product design assessment.

The technologies are aimed at improving vessel efficiency, expanding alternative-fuel and cargo-handling options, and reducing emissions from gas transportation.

Hanwha Ocean to Unveil 60 MW Floating Data Centre

Hanwha Ocean will showcase its self-developed 60-megawatt floating data centre concept to international customers for the first time at Gastech 2026.

The offshore data centre is designed to generate its own power and use seawater for cooling. Its modular configuration allows power generation and supply systems, server types and computing capacity to be adapted according to customer requirements and installation conditions.

The American Bureau of Shipping has granted approval in principle for Hanwha Ocean’s 60 MW floating data centre concept design.

The company is positioning the technology for the growing demand for AI infrastructure, particularly where land availability, power supply and cooling requirements can constrain conventional data centre development.

Hanwha Ocean Displays Ammonia-Powered LNG Carrier Concept

Hanwha Ocean will also exhibit a model of a 174,000-cubic-metre LNG carrier designed around an ammonia gas turbine-based electric propulsion system.

The concept is being developed with the objective of eliminating the use of pilot oil, including during engine ignition. The vessel is intended to use ammonia as the primary energy source for its propulsion system.

The concept forms part of Hanwha Ocean’s development of alternative propulsion technologies for large LNG carriers.

Hanwha Ocean Targets Floating Data Centre Market

Shon Young-chang, head of Hanwha Ocean’s Product and Strategy Technology Institute, said Gastech 2026 marks a meaningful stage for introducing the floating data centre, prepared as a new future business, to the global market for the first time, adding that the company aims to present a new solution that complements the limitations of land-based data centres by combining its accumulated shipbuilding and offshore expertise with Hanwha Group’s energy and data capabilities to lead the global floating data centre market.

The company’s participation reflects the convergence of shipbuilding, offshore engineering, energy systems and data infrastructure, with floating platforms being developed as an alternative approach to conventional land-based data centre facilities.