AI boom puts shipowners in race with tech giants for engines

Splash 24710 Aug 2026AI generated

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a KRW956bn ($676m) agreement with US energy infrastructure developer Corban Energy Group to supply 1,000 MW of generating capacity for American AI data centres, based on its 9.6 MW HiMSEN medium-speed engines originally developed for ship propulsion. The order follows a KRW627.1bn US data-centre engine contract secured in April, bringing the total to approximately KRW1.6trn in four months. Engine supply tightness is already affecting shipyards: Wärtsilä has announced capacity expansions equivalent to 65% of its 2025 capacity, Rolls-Royce is more than doubling US production of mtu Series 4000 generator sets, and Accelleron delivered a record 8,000 TPX44 turbochargers for data-centre applications last year — over three times the prior year's output.

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