Seasteading: No Landlubbers Allowed

Could you imagine a life lived permanently at sea? It may be tough to do, but there is little reason to doubt that such an existence could be that of your children's. The concept is known as 'seasteading' and it has attracted some increased study in recent years. The less dynamic half of the PayPal brain trust, Peter Thiel, donated $500,000 to The Seastead Institute, a think tank formed to create an autonomous, permanent, mobile community in international waters. They've produced the video at right, which envisions "a 1,000 floating Hong Kongs."

There are obvious obstacles to overcome-waste disposal, energy collection, security, etc.-but there isn't an issue some determined engineering can't overcome. These design constraints--and the lack of funding to confront them--have meant that the number of sea settlements on the high seas is currently at an all-time high: zero. But some innovative new ideas may yield the first seastead in 2014.

It's easy to consider an offshore oil platform as a seaborne living station, but it doesn't quite harness the freedom of living on the ocean permanently that seasteaders are seeking. Oil platform crews are regularly replaced and are there to collect fossil fuels, frequently with national interests. The distinct attraction of seasteading would be quasi-lawlessness once outside a nation's 12 miles of territorial waters. It's what allowed pirate radio boats to broadcast to audiences in the U.K. in the 1960s. The closest thing to a seastead at present would be the Principality of Sealand, a 5,900 sq. ft. sea fort (pictured left) built by the British in World War II to protect the Suffolk coast from mine-laying aircraft. It was built seven miles offshore and after the war fell into disuse. It was eventually overtaken by a pirate radio broadcaster and turned into a "sovereign nation." It's hard to consider Sealand a seastead however. No nation formally recognizes it, it does not have a permanent resident, and it has been reduced to selling the titles of baron, lord, and knight in order to finance its upkeep. Essentially, Sealand is a joke.

But the enterprise spirit behind Sealand is at least coherent with seasteading. Sealand attempted to capitalize on its marine base by hosting an online casino and creating a data haven, a place with no internet data restrictions. Both enterprises failed due to mismanagement, but there is at least a lesson to be learned for the creators of Blueseed, which is expected to be the first true ocean settlement.

Blueseed will be built upon a repurposed cruise ship anchored 12 miles offshore from Silicon Valley. Representatives of Blueseed call it, "a vibrant workplace for innovative industries to bloom, unencumbered by onerous regulations on new technology-sector businesses." The ship would allow foreign entrepreneurs a chance to work on their companies in office spaces aboard the ship, along with living quarters. These individuals would not need to obtain a hard-to-acquire U.S. work visa, and for trips to Silicon Valley would only need a tourist or business visa, which are easier to acquire. Once their business is successful enough to move to the mainland, it can begin hiring employees. Nearly 400 startup projects have expressed interest in Blueseed and each would pay between $1,200 and $3,000 in monthly rent. However, that is only a drop in the bucket considering Blueseed's initial $27 million budget, which has been the most considerable problem with Blueseed.

Blueseed isn't the only settlement on its way, however. Utopia, an ultra-luxury cruise ship, has received $1.1 billion in financing to be built by 2016. The ship will have 200 residences and 175 hotel rooms. Aboard the ship will be a casino, full-service spa, multiple swimming pools, a water slide, rock climbing wall, movie theatre, 11 decks, golf simulators, a sports bar, several lounges and restaurants, a deli, a grocery store, and other retail spaces. Utopia will be powered by several thrusters under the waterline and the entire ship will be a permanent holiday. By 2016, the number of individuals permanently living at sea is expected to reach 500.

It remains unclear if either of these projects will take shape beyond their current statuses; Blueseed needed another $18 million in funding at last tally, and the superstructure for Utopia has yet to be laid. Nonetheless, these are the closest realizations yet to Ron Herron's 'Walking City' idea--entire metropolises mounted on robotic legs which could haul their infrastructure and productivity to the highest bidder. Provided we're willing to compromise the giant robot legs part for something more akin to Waterworld, we may be very close to colonizing our world's last true frontier.

Resources

The Seasteading Institute

Utopia Residences

Wikipedia - Seasteading