Seasteading
Encyclopedia
Seasteading is the concept of creating permanent dwellings at sea, called seasteads, outside the territories claimed by the governments of any standing nation.
At least two people independently began using the term, a portmanteau of sea and homesteading
: Ken Neumeyer in his book Sailing the Farm
(1981) and Wayne Gramlich in his article "Seasteading – Homesteading on the High Seas" (1998).
Most proposed seasteads have been modified cruising vessels. Other proposed structures have included a refitted oil platform
, a decommissioned anti-aircraft platform, and custom-built floating islands. No one has created a state on the high seas that has been recognized as a sovereign nation, although the Principality of Sealand
is a disputed micronation
formed on a discarded sea fort near Suffolk
, England
.
The closest things to a seastead that have been built so far are large ocean-going ships sometimes called "floating cities" and smaller floating island
s.
of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km), which countries can claim according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
, the high seas
are not subject to the laws of any sovereign nation other than the flag
under which a ship sails. Examples of organizations using this possibility are Women on Waves
, enabling abortions for women in countries where abortions are subject to strict laws, and the pirate radio
stations sailing the North Sea
during the sixties. Like these organizations, a seastead might be able to take advantage of the looser laws and regulations that exist outside the sovereignty of nations, and be largely self-governing.
"When Seasteading becomes a viable alternative, switching from one government to another would be a matter of sailing to the other without even leaving your house," said Friedman at the first annual Seasteading conference.
The Seasteading Institute, founded by Wayne Gramlich and Patri Friedman
on April 15, 2008, is an organization formed to facilitate the establishment of autonomous, mobile communities on seaborne platforms operating in international waters
. Gramlich’s 1998 article "SeaSteading – Homesteading on the High Seas" outlined the notion of affordable steading, and attracted the attention of Friedman with his proposal for a small-scale project. The two began working together and posted their first collaborative book online in 2001, which explored aspects of seasteading from waste disposal to flags of convenience.
The project picked up mainstream exposure in 2008 after having been brought to the attention of PayPal founder Peter Thiel
, who invested $500,000 in the institute and has since spoken out on behalf of its viability, most recently in his essay "The Education of a Libertarian," published online by Cato Unbound. TSI has received widespread and diverse media attention, from sources such as CNN
, Wired Magazine, and Prospect Magazine. American journalist and commentator John Stossel
wrote an article about seasteading and the Seasteading Institute in February of 2011 and invited Patri Friedman
onto his show on the Fox Business Network.
s adapted for semi-permanent habitation. Cruise ships are a proven technology, and they address most of the challenges of living at sea for extended periods of time. The cost of the first shipstead was estimated at $10M.
s, similar to oil platforms. The project would start small, using proven technology as much as possible, and try to find viable, sustainable ways of running a seastead. Innovations that enable full-time living at sea will have to be developed. The cruise ship
industry's development suggests this may be possible.
A proposed design for a custom-built seastead is a floating dumbbell in which the living area is high above sea level, which minimizes the influence of waves. During the last couple of years, research has been documented in an online book that covers living on the oceans.
The Seasteading Institute focuses on three areas: building a community, doing research and building the first seastead in the San Francisco Bay
. In January 2009, The Seasteading Institute patented a design for a 200-person resort seastead, ClubStead, about a city block in size, produced by consultancy firm Marine Innovation & Technology. ClubStead marks the first major development in hard engineering, from extensive analysis to simulations, of the seasteading movement.
is the most proven, sustainable and cost-effective material for seastead structures, as indicated by use in oil platforms and concrete submarines.
and companies as Shimizu and Tangram 3DS. Marshall Savage
also discussed building tethered artificial islands in his book The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps
, with several color plates illustrating his ideas.
by 2010 but current plans are to launch a seastead by 2014.. The Seasteading Institute projects that in 2014, the seasteading population will exceed 150 individuals.
In July 2011, two employees of The Seasteading Institute left The Institute to start a for-profit seasteading venture, Blueseed.
, October 10, 2008. 45 people from 9 countries attended.
The second annual Seasteading conference was significantly larger, and held in San Francisco, California
, September 28–30, 2009.
The first "Ephemerisle" event was held October 2–4, 2009, on the Sacramento River
delta in California. A second Ephemerisle event scheduled for July 22–25, 2010, was canceled by organizers. TSI cited "unexpectedly high insurance costs" as the reason and stated that it would indefinitely postpone plans for a future Ephemerisle to concentrate on its research initiatives. However, many attendees still gathered in the same location for a grassroots community weekend consisting of informal presentations, talks and socializing.
and the relatively much easier to obtain B-1 visa. Blueseed founders Max Marty meet Dario Mutabdzija when both were employees of the Seasteading Institute.
At least two people independently began using the term, a portmanteau of sea and homesteading
Homestead principle
The homestead principle in law is the concept that one can gain ownership of a natural thing that currently has no owner by using it or building something out of it...
: Ken Neumeyer in his book Sailing the Farm
Sailing the Farm
Sailing the Farm: A Survival Guide to Homesteading on the Ocean is a book written by Ken Neumeyer.Considered a classic in sailing and cruising circles, Ken motivated thousands of people planning to set sail for a life on the water and helped improve the lifestyle of thousands more who were, and...
(1981) and Wayne Gramlich in his article "Seasteading – Homesteading on the High Seas" (1998).
Most proposed seasteads have been modified cruising vessels. Other proposed structures have included a refitted oil platform
Oil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
, a decommissioned anti-aircraft platform, and custom-built floating islands. No one has created a state on the high seas that has been recognized as a sovereign nation, although the Principality of Sealand
Principality of Sealand
The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognized entity, located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom ....
is a disputed micronation
Micronation
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are entities that claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations...
formed on a discarded sea fort near Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The closest things to a seastead that have been built so far are large ocean-going ships sometimes called "floating cities" and smaller floating island
Floating island
A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from a few inches to several feet. Floating islands are a common natural phenomenon that are found in many parts of the world. They exist less commonly as a man-made phenomenon...
s.
Legal issues
Outside the Exclusive Economic ZoneExclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km), which countries can claim according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea , which took place from 1973 through 1982...
, the high seas
International waters
The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands.Oceans,...
are not subject to the laws of any sovereign nation other than the flag
Flag of convenience
The term flag of convenience describes the business practice of registering a merchant ship in a sovereign state different from that of the ship's owners, and flying that state's civil ensign on the ship. Ships are registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating costs or avoid the...
under which a ship sails. Examples of organizations using this possibility are Women on Waves
Women on Waves
Women on Waves is a Dutch pro-choice non-profit organization created in 1999 by Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts, in order to bring reproductive health services, particularly non-surgical abortion services, to women in countries with restrictive abortion laws. Other services offered by WoW include...
, enabling abortions for women in countries where abortions are subject to strict laws, and the pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
stations sailing the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
during the sixties. Like these organizations, a seastead might be able to take advantage of the looser laws and regulations that exist outside the sovereignty of nations, and be largely self-governing.
"When Seasteading becomes a viable alternative, switching from one government to another would be a matter of sailing to the other without even leaving your house," said Friedman at the first annual Seasteading conference.
The Seasteading Institute
Patri Friedman
Patri Friedman is an American activist and theorist of political economy.- Background :Friedman grew up in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Upper Merion Area High School, class of 1994, where he went by the name Patri Forwalter-Friedman. He graduated from Harvey Mudd College in...
on April 15, 2008, is an organization formed to facilitate the establishment of autonomous, mobile communities on seaborne platforms operating in international waters
International waters
The terms international waters or trans-boundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems , and wetlands.Oceans,...
. Gramlich’s 1998 article "SeaSteading – Homesteading on the High Seas" outlined the notion of affordable steading, and attracted the attention of Friedman with his proposal for a small-scale project. The two began working together and posted their first collaborative book online in 2001, which explored aspects of seasteading from waste disposal to flags of convenience.
The project picked up mainstream exposure in 2008 after having been brought to the attention of PayPal founder Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel
Peter Andreas Thiel is an American business magnate, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager. With Elon Musk and Max Levchin, Thiel co-founded PayPal and was its CEO...
, who invested $500,000 in the institute and has since spoken out on behalf of its viability, most recently in his essay "The Education of a Libertarian," published online by Cato Unbound. TSI has received widespread and diverse media attention, from sources such as CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Wired Magazine, and Prospect Magazine. American journalist and commentator John Stossel
John Stossel
John F. Stossel is an American consumer reporter, investigative journalist, author and libertarian columnist. In October 2009 Stossel left his long time home on ABC News to join the Fox Business Channel and Fox News Channel, both owned and operated by News Corp...
wrote an article about seasteading and the Seasteading Institute in February of 2011 and invited Patri Friedman
Patri Friedman
Patri Friedman is an American activist and theorist of political economy.- Background :Friedman grew up in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Upper Merion Area High School, class of 1994, where he went by the name Patri Forwalter-Friedman. He graduated from Harvey Mudd College in...
onto his show on the Fox Business Network.
Retrofitted cruise ships
The first seasteads are projected to be cruise shipCruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
s adapted for semi-permanent habitation. Cruise ships are a proven technology, and they address most of the challenges of living at sea for extended periods of time. The cost of the first shipstead was estimated at $10M.
Spar Platform
The Seasteading Institute has been working on communities floating above the sea in spar buoySpar buoy
A spar buoy is a tall, thin buoy that floats upright in the water and is characterized by a small water plane area and a large mass. Because they tend to be stable ocean platforms, spar buoys are popular for making oceanographic measurements. Adjustment of the water plane area and the mass allows...
s, similar to oil platforms. The project would start small, using proven technology as much as possible, and try to find viable, sustainable ways of running a seastead. Innovations that enable full-time living at sea will have to be developed. The cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
industry's development suggests this may be possible.
A proposed design for a custom-built seastead is a floating dumbbell in which the living area is high above sea level, which minimizes the influence of waves. During the last couple of years, research has been documented in an online book that covers living on the oceans.
The Seasteading Institute focuses on three areas: building a community, doing research and building the first seastead in the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. In January 2009, The Seasteading Institute patented a design for a 200-person resort seastead, ClubStead, about a city block in size, produced by consultancy firm Marine Innovation & Technology. ClubStead marks the first major development in hard engineering, from extensive analysis to simulations, of the seasteading movement.
Modular Island
At the Seasteading Institute Forum, an idea arose to create an island from modules. There are several different designs for the modules, with a general consensus that Reinforced concreteReinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
is the most proven, sustainable and cost-effective material for seastead structures, as indicated by use in oil platforms and concrete submarines.
Other
Many architects and firms have created designs for floating cities, including Vincent Callebaut, Paolo SoleriPaolo Soleri
Paolo Soleri is an Italian-American architect. He established Arcosanti and the educational Cosanti Foundation. Soleri is a lecturer in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University and a National Design Award recipient in 2006.-Early life:Soleri was born in Turin, Italy...
and companies as Shimizu and Tangram 3DS. Marshall Savage
Marshall Savage
Marshall Thomas Savage is an advocate of space travel who wrote The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps and founded the Living Universe Foundation, which was designed to make plans for stellar exploration over the next 1,000 years....
also discussed building tethered artificial islands in his book The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps
The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps
The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps by Marshall T. Savage is a book in the field of Exploratory engineering that gives a series of concrete stages the author believes will lead to interstellar colonization...
, with several color plates illustrating his ideas.
Progress
Friedman and Gramlich had hoped to float the first prototype seastead in the San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
by 2010 but current plans are to launch a seastead by 2014.. The Seasteading Institute projects that in 2014, the seasteading population will exceed 150 individuals.
In July 2011, two employees of The Seasteading Institute left The Institute to start a for-profit seasteading venture, Blueseed.
Conferences
The Seasteading Institute held its first annual conference in Burlingame, CaliforniaBurlingame, California
Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for its many surviving examples of Victorian architecture, its affluence, and...
, October 10, 2008. 45 people from 9 countries attended.
The second annual Seasteading conference was significantly larger, and held in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, September 28–30, 2009.
The first "Ephemerisle" event was held October 2–4, 2009, on the Sacramento River
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
delta in California. A second Ephemerisle event scheduled for July 22–25, 2010, was canceled by organizers. TSI cited "unexpectedly high insurance costs" as the reason and stated that it would indefinitely postpone plans for a future Ephemerisle to concentrate on its research initiatives. However, many attendees still gathered in the same location for a grassroots community weekend consisting of informal presentations, talks and socializing.
Spin off projects
Blueseed plans to seastead near Silicon Valley in a ship employing established maritime firms to handle the logistical details of offering living and office space at prices comparable to what entrepreneurs would pay for an apartment and office in Silicon Valley, high-speed fixed wireless connection with a satellite backup, and regular ferry service to the mainland to allow the seastead to act as an entrepreneurial incubator. The existence of the project is due to the difficulty organizations face obtaining H1-B visasH-1B visa
The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act, section 101. It allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations...
and the relatively much easier to obtain B-1 visa. Blueseed founders Max Marty meet Dario Mutabdzija when both were employees of the Seasteading Institute.
See also
- ArcologyArcologyArcology, a portmanteau of the words "architecture" and "ecology", is a set of architectural design principles aimed toward the design of enormous habitats of extremely high human population density. These largely hypothetical structures would contain a variety of residential, commercial, and...
- Artificial islandArtificial islandAn artificial island or man-made island is an island or archipelago that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means...
- BiorockBiorockBiorock, also known as Seacrete, is a substance formed by electro-accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater. The building process, popularly called accretion, is not to be confused with Biorock sewage treatment...
- Deep sea mining
- Floating airportFloating airportA floating airport is an airport built and situated on a very large floating structure located many miles out at sea utilizing a flotation type of device or devices such as Pneumatic Stabilized Platform technology....
- Jacque FrescoJacque FrescoJacque Fresco , is a self-educated structural designer, philosopher of science, concept artist, educator, and futurist. His interests span a wide range of disciplines including several in philosophy, science, and engineering...
- HavenCoHavenCoHavenCo Limited was a data haven, data hosting services company, founded in 2000 which operated from Sealand, self-declared 'sovereign principality' that occupies a man-made former World War II defensive facility originally known as Roughs Tower located approximately six miles from the coast of...
- MaricultureMaricultureMariculture is a specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater. An example of the latter is the farming of marine fish,...
- Marine energyMarine energyMarine energy or marine power refers to the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in the world’s oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy, or energy in motion...
- Mobile offshore baseMobile offshore baseIn the defense industry of the United States, a mobile offshore base — or MOB — is a concept for supporting military operations where conventional land bases are not available...
- Ocean thermal energy conversionOcean thermal energy conversionOcean Thermal Energy Conversion uses the difference between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce useful work, usually in the form of electricity....
- Pneumatic stabilized platformPneumatic stabilized platformA Pneumatic stabilized platform is a technology used to float a very large floating structure .PSP utilizes indirect displacement, in which a platform rests on trapped air that displaces the water. The primary buoyancy force is provided by air pressure acting on the underside of the deck...
- Republic of MinervaRepublic of MinervaThe Republic of Minerva was one of the few modern attempts at creating a sovereign micronation on the reclaimed land of an artificial island in 1972. The architect was Las Vegas real estate millionaire and political activist Michael Oliver, who went on to other similar attempts in the following...
- Russian floating nuclear power stationRussian floating nuclear power stationFloating nuclear power stations are vessels projected by Rosatom that present self-contained, low-capacity, floating nuclear power plants...
- Seawater GreenhouseSeawater GreenhouseThe Seawater Greenhouse is a technology that enables the growth of crops in arid regions, using a greenhouse structure, seawater and solar energy...
- TelepossessionTelepossessionTelepossession is a relatively new legal concept. Maritime salvage in the case of the SS Central America is where the term gained importance. In the case of the SS Central America, the Columbus-American Discovery Group Inc. won over the insurer, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company...
- Underwater habitatUnderwater habitatUnderwater habitats are underwater structures in which people can live for extended periods and carry out most of the basic human functions of a 24-hour day, such as working, resting, eating, attending to personal hygiene, and sleeping...
- Very large floating structure
- Wolf HilbertzWolf HilbertzProf. Wolf Hartmut Hilbertz was a German-born futurist architect, inventor, and marine scientist.-Youth and schooling:...
External links
- The Seasteading Institute
- Seasteading - Frequently Asked Questions
- Blueseed - for-profit seasteading venture
- Las Portadas (underwriting, arbitration, and government interface)
- The Seasteader's Institute, Oceania: The Atlantis Project (precursor projects, now abandoned)