What is Google doing with a barge in the middle of San Francisco bay? That was the question on the lips of United States Coast Guard officers on Wednesday as they made their first pilgrimage across the waters to the vessel. But according to a report from Mercury News, the Coast Guard and other agencies with knowledge of what Google’s plans are for the barge have been effectively sworn to secrecy.

That includes a regional environmental office for the San Francisco area, which a few months ago helped Google lawyers secure what is essentially a parking permit for the vessel. While the office has also opted not to disclose anything to the press – likely for the same reason as the Coast Guard: “legal reasons” – they have revealed that Google intended to park the barge in the San Francisco bay for an extended period of time.

Technically the vessel doesn’t even belong to Google, but to a company called By and Large. However, ties were discovered last week between that company and the search engine internet giant, and frequent mention of Google’s attorneys making moves in the name of the barge have left little doubt to the possibility of the company’s involvement. By and Large also owns three other barges, one of which is currently situated in Maine’s Casco Bay.

Naturally, Google’s ties to the barge, as well as the mysterious nature of the vessel in general, have left many in the technology world and beyond speculating as to what Google could possibly want with a massive cargo ship floating so close to a major U.S. city. One of the earliest guesses was that Google was finally making use of a permit it had acquired in 2009 for a floating data center. That particular innovation would have increased Google’s coverage and reach in an environmentally-friendly fashion: it was developed to use seawater and wave movement for cooling and power.

The other guess, however, the one claiming that the barge was some sort of retail outlet where Google could show off its latest products, looks to be the correct one. According to CNET, the barge will serve as a movable tech showroom for new innovations from the Google X department. Google X is responsible for the company’s first foray into wearable devices – the Google Glass, which has been all over the news this year – as well as future developments in self-driving automobiles, smartwatches, wind energy, and more.