After intensive reporting linked Google to a mysterious barge docked at San Francisco's Treasure Island, supposedly planned as either a data center or a "floating marketing center" for the upcoming Google Glass launch, speculation has been rampant about the company's still-secret maritime ambitions. Now, that speculation has grown to encompass a second boat, a mysterious four-story barge currently docked outside Portland, Maine.

The barge first appeared on October 11th, and in the weeks since, workers for local fabrication company Cianbro have been doing undisclosed interior and electronics work on the barge. The company is unable to name their client or the nature of their work, but they said the final destination of the structure will be outside of Maine, leading to local speculation that the barge is involved in some larger project that has yet to be revealed. That speculation was fueled further by the San Francisco story, as well as a source's statement that "they're building on both coasts."

So, is this a second Google barge? The structures bear some superficial resemblance, and it's entirely plausible that Google is working on a second barge for the east coast. Still, Cianbro's involvement would be a wrinkle in the plans, since the company is relatively local and has little history of the kind of long-term, large-scale work described in the Treasure Island project. Still, only time will tell, and there's plenty of reason to think Google has a few more surprises up its sleeve.