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October 27, 2013

Google Barge

Google's got a barge floating off of Treasure Island with shipping crates stacked high on it, wrapped with black netting. There is speculation that they want to pull it up to the waterfront of mainland San Francisco. And then there's a lot of handwringing about how Google doesn't have the proper permits for such a thing, and such a thing would not be legal anyway, oh my, oh my.

I don't know why no one is guessing the obvious: this is a Google data center that they are going to float into international waters to escape the intrusiveness of the U.S. government. Google needs data centers that the other nations of the world will trust. All they need to do is anchor this thing and bring alongside another ship to provide power. I think Google has the resources to buy a used nuclear-powered boat from some nation. They also need a very broadband connection up to a satellite. Or maybe they hook it into a cable running to a country that respects privacy and freedom of information, like Mexico or Canada.

UPDATE: CNet discusses the possibility that it will be a floating data center. They say at least some of the contents of the barge were constructed in Hangar 3 on Treasure Island. The legal owner of the barge and the tenant of Hangar 3 is By And Large LLC.

Here's a fairly clear photo.

Technical info on the barge itself.

Dimensions
Bal0010 is 249.6 feet in length, which is far longer than the average for all Freight Barges. It is 16 feet in depth, which is significantly deeper than the average for all Freight Barges.

Volume
Bal0010's gross tonnage is 2,164, which is 183% larger than the average for all Freight Barges. It's net tonnage is 649, which is 15% smaller than the average for all Freight Barges.

Filed under California,Technology | permalink | October 27, 2013 at 09:29 AM

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