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Only slightly off-shoring

By Gearhead, NetworkWorld.com, 05/05/05

In the on-going debate over off-shoring there's usually the assumption that such activities are carried out in other countries but a recent article in the Boston Globe puts an interesting twist on the idea.

According to the article, Roger Green, a software entrepreneur and David Cook, once a supertanker skipper, are planning to buy a luxury cruise ship, hire 600 ace programmers, and haul them out to just 3 miles off San Diego were they will be out of the reach of US immigration law.

As crazy as the idea sounds when the news of the venture, called SeaCode, circulated around the 'Net the company's Web site was reportedly "hammered flat." And why not? The deal is four months of macho coding on a luxury ship then two months off. Doesn't sound too bad at all because when you're on board you're fed, housed, get medical care, and even your laundry is done for free.

You can imagine the issues involved with making such a project work such as security and logistics but for clients the benefits could be fantastic. Because of being off-shore the costs would be significantly lower than running an office on the mainland. And if a client wants to meet with the programmers they just get on a helicopter and when the meeting is over they can play some shuffleboard.

Of course there are some interesting possibilities. Say you write buggy code: Walking the plank is the punishment. Forget to bounds check an array? Keel hauling. Ah, a life at C could be quite something.

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