[kwhitefoot]

Boats in that part of the world are subject to severe stresses because of the weather. And boats are always moving, even in harbour. Just maintaining a reliable cable connection to a boat is more challenging than connecting to a subsea container. Placing the container on the sea floor avoids almost all of the weather related problems.

[Steltek]

Microwave links? How about an oil derrick style thing mounted directly to the seabed so it doesn't move?

There's also plenty of coastline away from major cities. Find enough open space and it becomes feasibly multi-tenant. Add wind/solar and run a cable (or 3).