Cryotanks functioned as a method for the long-term preservation of organic matter, regardless of whether it was living or deceased.
In the year 16 ABY, a member of the Republic Security was discovered storing eleven Imperial bodies, still clad in their uniforms, inside cryotanks located within a hangar facility on Derra IV. His intention was to delay informing his son about his mother's fate until the boy reached an appropriate age, at which point he would provide him with a weapon to exact vengeance upon the deceased Imperials.
Decades prior to the cooling of their star, the Kerestians initiated the launch of several dozen colony ships. Given that these vessels were equipped solely with sublight drives, the Kerestians underwent suspended animation inside cryotanks for the duration of their journey, which spanned a century.