A proposed 100 MW SWATH ship combines ocean-thermal power, vacuum-flash desalination and onboard data-center compute to supply electricity, potable water and compute capacity to coastal areas without land-based infrastructure.
The Kraaken concept uses an Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion variant plus server waste heat to generate up to 100 MW of thermal-capable output split between electricity, desalinated water and compute.
Design claims: up to 40 MW continuous electricity (about 32,000 homes), 30 million liters of fresh water per day (about 150,000 people), and 60 MW reserved for high-performance computing.
The vessel is a self-propelled SWATH ship, intended to stay offshore and relocate as needed rather than be fixed to the seabed.
# What Kraaken is
Kraaken is a concept for a large, self-propelled offshore platform that combines power generation, desalination and high-performance data-center computing into a single ship. Developed by InMar Technologies and OptiFuel Systems under the Optimal Transit partnership, the Blue Economy VITAL 100 MW Kraaken is a 100-MW configuration intended to serve coastal communities or disaster areas without relying on land, grid connections or conventional fuel for its core functions.
# How it generates power
At the heart of the design is the Digital Ocean Thermal (DOT) engine, a modified Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system. OTEC exploits the temperature difference between warm surface seawater and much colder deep seawater. In Kraaken's closed-cycle approach, warm surface water heats a low-boiling-point working fluid (ammonia in the company diagram), vaporizing it to drive a turbine. Cold deep seawater then re-condenses the vapor, and the cycle repeats.
Kraaken adds a second heat source: the platform's own server waste heat. Liquid-cooled servers run at elevated temperatures and feed that heat into the thermal loop through an integrated thermal bus and an auxiliary heat-exchange block (AHEB) that "supercharges" the vapor before the turbine. The company claims the hybrid approach reduces key component sizes—turbine, pumps, condenser and cold-water pipes—compared with conventional OTEC, though those performance improvements are yet to be demonstrated in operation.
# Hull, stationkeeping and mobility
# Claims and open questions
The concept promises an integrated response to coastal power, water and compute needs without onshore footprint or fuel for continuous operation. The DOT architecture is described as incorporating multi-stage Rankine cycles, enthalpy recovery, supercharging and green-ammonia synthesis, with large reductions claimed in component sizing and pumping costs. Those claims are based on the company's published diagrams and remain to be demonstrated at scale.
Key operational and technical questions include real-world DOT efficiency, reliability of the integrated thermal loop when combined with intensive computing loads, environmental effects of deep-water intake and discharge, and the economics of deploying and operating a large self-propelled SWATH platform compared with land-based or shore-anchored alternatives.
# Who this would serve
The designers position Kraaken as a resource for coastal habitats, disaster relief, or locations lacking grid access or land for infrastructure. The platform's mobility is intended to allow targeted deployment where power and fresh water are needed most.
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Источник: Компьютерра - Журнал о науке и технологиях Огромное самоходное судно, которое одновременно вырабатывает электричество, опресняет морскую воду и охлаждает серверы искусственного интеллекта. Именно такой концепт предложили инженеры InMar Technologies и OptiFuel Systems. Компании обычно строят что-то одно: опрес
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