One of Google's mysterious barges is on the move

Barge docked in Maine is reportedly sold and was moved out of Portland harbor

The Maine-docked Google barge, which created so much curiosity and brouhaha last fall, is on the move.

A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard station in South Portland, Maine, confirmed that the barge , named BAL0011, was moved from where it's been docked in Portland harbor since last fall to South Portland. The move happened on Wednesday.

Google's mysterious barge in Portland, Maine, seen in this photo from 2013, has moved to South Portland and has reportedly been sold. (Photo: Sharon Gaudin/Computerworld)

While the barge's owner is not required to notify the Coast Guard about a move, the spokesman said it's believed that the barge will be leaving the area.

Roger Hale, the owner of Turner Island LLC, a marine-rail cargo terminal in South Portland, said Google sold the barge to an international barging company and that it is being prepped to leave the area, according to the Portland Press Herald. Hale did not say who bought the structure.

Hale could not be reached for further comment before deadline. A spokeswoman for Cianbro, the construction company that was set to work on the barge, declined to comment.

Google has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

After weeks of speculation last fall, Google finally reported that it had two barges -- the one docked in Maine, and another in San Francisco -- that were going to be converted into high-end structures that could be moved up and down either coast of the U.S.

Calling them "unprecedented artistic structures," Google filed papers with the Port of San Francisco reporting last fall that the barges would be used as studios and temporary technology exhibit spaces. The structures were made from recycled shipping containers to create 13,726-square-foot exhibit spaces.

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin, on Google+ or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed. Her email address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

See more by Sharon Gaudin on Computerworld.com.

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