Google has raised public interest over its research and development projects in the past. Seeing the little cars with Google on the side, and cameras mounted on masts atop the vehicle is not an unheard of experience in the Unites States. We know the cars are simply mapping streets for Google Earth’s Street View option.

Google’s newest spike in public interest comes from a project that is completely dark to public knowledge. In fact, outside of Google’s team, only a few members of the U.S. Coast Guard have seen what the project actually entails, and they aren’t talking.

Coast Guard Refuses To Divulge Information

In San Francisco Bay there is a barge that was visited by Coast Guard officials on Wednesday. The barge has generated a fair amount of interest because of all the corporations in the world, it belongs to Google Inc. What could Google possibly be building on a barge in the bay?

The Coast Guard has refused to release any information because Google managed to enforce a corporate gag order, restraining them from revealing the contents of the barge. Petty Officer 1st Class Thomas McKenzie, a spokesman for the Coast Guard said in an interview with CNBC, “We can confirm that Google is involved or associated with the barge, but there is a nondisclosure agreement in effect. The Coast Guard is unable to discuss or divulge any further details at this time.”

More Barges On The East Coast

According to reports, the San Francisco based barge is one of four total. Each of them are registered to a company that is listed in Delaware as By and Large, which some people believe to be a play on the name “Buy N Large,’ the fictitious company in the Pixar Movie Wall-E. These barges have names that also seem to be written in computer geek code. They are registered as BAL0001, BAL0010, BAL0011, and BAL0100. In binary code – the language that computers use – these numbers are literally “1,” “2,” “3,” and “4.”

Currently BAL0001 and BAL 0010 are anchored in the San Francisco Bay, and BAL0010 contains the constructed building that has aroused so much attention. However, this is not the only one that has been spotted. Off the coast of Maine, there has been a second structure erected on BAL0011.

Rumors Fly

C-NET first reported that the barges could be floating data centers that utilized sea water to keep Google’s massive servers cool. The reason for this report is because Google obtained a patent for developing floating data centers in 2009. When C-NET spoke with someone who was linked both to Google and By and Large, they referred them to the patent filing.

Another rumor has been reported by CBS san Francisco, saying that the barge in the bay will be used as a floating retail store to market Google’s products.

The LA Times says it could be quite literally anything from a “doomsday flotilla,” to a private area set aside for Google execs to play paintball.

Multiple sources have told KPIX 5 that the barge will feature a party deck and luxury showrooms for the tech giant to market Google Glass and other gadgets to invitation-only clients.