What will you do for water, electricity, food, sewage processing, etc?

Powered air ventilation and septic services (using the large onboard septic tanks) will be included in the cabin leases. Water, electricity, food, garbage pickup/treatment, etc, will be offered by multiple competed companies (each trying to offer a higher value at a lower price in order to earn your business).

A large gantry crane and import/export cargo holds will be able to handle a theoretical max capacity of 1,292 TEUs, with all of the containers either in the process of being imported-from or exported-to container ships that will dock with New Liberty multiple times a week.

Some food will be grown locally, but it is beleived that most of it will be imported, just like it is in Hawaii and other modern small island nations. Food prices are expected to be on par with what is found in those locations.

While people are free to choose imported water if they wish, it is beleived that most people will choose the cheaper option of water that was created locally using the multiple competing desalination/filtration services. Trash might be cleanly burned and filtered locally, recycled, and/or exported to another nation, depending on what environmentally clean solution makes the most economical sense based on what the people choose to pay for.

For additional details and images, check out our #WelcomeToNewLiberty series at https://www.facebook.com/groups/LibertarianSeasteading/permalink/805746316671602. Note: in the future we plan on adding an interactive New Liberty image (which will also contain all of the information in the “#WelcomeToNewLiberty” series).

How will you handle pirates/cartels? How will you stop large countries from invading or attacking New Liberty?

With an initial population of 5,000-10,000 residents being well-armed with unregistered weapons of all types, and with vessel wide defensive posture and high caliber deterrent weapons, we do not imagine aggressive attacking pirates or cartels will pose much of a threat and will quickly learn not to threaten the life, freedom, and/or property of the residence of New Liberty. Unlike in movies, modern pirates rarely attack ships defended by security personnel.

Foreign Navies, however, are a different more complicated matter. New Liberty will be flying a flag that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) recognizes, and any naval attack on such a vessel is an attack on the country the flag belongs to, and this doesn’t happen outside of war or if the vessel is inside the jurisdiction of the attacking country (inside their EEZ). That being said, we will be as vulnerable to the invading armies and navies of the world’s major superpowers as any other small island nation currently is. We believe our only effective defense against these is a 3-fold approach:

  1. DIPLOMACY
    Reach out in diplomacy to the world’s nations and global alliances (such as the UN) and develop friendships and foster peace without sacrificing any of the human rights of the people of Freedom Haven.
  2. VISIBILITY
    Have a 24/7 live 4K video stream broadcasting from New Liberty (and the rest of Freedom Haven) letting the people of the world into our lives (to the degree that each individual person wishes to do so). The world will know what life in Freedom Haven will be like through their first-hand experience, making it harder for foreign propaganda to sew lies into their citizens’ minds, preventing them from being manipulated into wanting war with a peacing nation. Also, if anyone attacks Freedom Haven, it will be aired live to the world so that everyone will know the atrocities that occurred. Encryption, peer-to-peer networks, and multiple fail-over networks will ensure that our signal won’t ever go dark to any who wish to bear witness to what happens.
  3. OPEN TRADE
    Frederic Bastiat is quoted as saying “When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will”. Likewise, Otto T. Mallery (a late 19th-century liberal), said: “If soldiers are not to cross international boundaries, goods must do so. Unless the Shackles can be dropped from trade, bombs will be dropped from the sky.” (from “Economic Union and Enduring Peace”). We will so openly trade with all people that they will wish peace if only for their own profit from our mutually beneficial trade relationship.

What about international maritime laws?

While the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) limits a country’s jurisdiction to the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone – 200 nautical miles from shore) it requires all vessels to be flagged under a country, otherwise it is considered a pirate vessel and can be seized or destroyed. A flagged vessel is technically part of the country that flagged is registered to (flag registry), but few (if any) of that country’s laws are extended to that vessel. Ships pay fees for the use of a country’s flag, but some countries compete for that business and have low fees and low requirements (flag of convenience).

Mainly the laws we have to worry about outside the EEZ are what are called “the 4 pillars of International Maritime Law” which most countries have signed:

The New Liberty vessel is estimated to have an initial population of around 5,000-10,000 people (“passengers” or “tenants”) but only around 20 of these would be officially working as the ship’s crew. The ship and crew will be compliant to all of these international maritime laws, and it reduces the freedom of the ship and crew… but not the passengers.

  1. The Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention: Regulations on the design and maintenance of the ship.
  2. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL): Regulations on pollution from the ship.
  3. The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW): Regulations on training requirements for some of the crew.
  4. The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC): Regulations on the pay, medical coverage, conditions of employments, welfare, and other protections for the crew.

Also:

  • The International Convention on Load Lines (CLL): Regulations around the measurements and markings of the ship
  • The International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1992 (CLC, CLC92, FUND92 or FUND): Responsibilities for oil tankers – doesn’t really apply to us.

Any country that signed these have also given other countries permission to do inspections to ensure their compliance, although it seems that these mostly occur when the ship is at port in that country.

While these will be something the New Liberty vessel and her crew have to worry about, from what we’ve understood, the passengers won’t have to worry about them and they’ll be able to experience all of their socioeconomic freedoms without any outside state interference.

What’s the difference between investors and renters?

Anyone, who follows the Freedom Haven Constitution, can bring their own vessel and be a province of Freedom Haven, but people who live specifically on the New Liberty vessel will either be investors or renters. What’s the difference? Let’s do the math:

  • INVESTOR
    An investor in the New Liberty vessel would pay an average of $65K for a cabin for 10 years (which comes out to around $541.67/month). The $65K would be due by 2034 and the vessel would be built and deployed by 2037… and they would then have this prepaid cabin for 10 years (until 2047). (Click here for the estimated timeline)
  • RENTER
    A renter pays month to month to an investor for use of their cabin space with no long-term commitments. In this scenario, how much would rent likely be? A typical ROI (Return on investment) is 10% or 7 years (after 7 years the investor has earned back what they spent – their first profits would occur after that point in time). If the investor spent $65K in 2034, and wants to earn his money back in 7 years (2041) then that means he has from 2037 until 2041 (4 years) of constant rent to make back his $65K, which comes out to $1,354.17 per month (assuming no additional investments were made into the cabin and the cabin had faithfully paying renters 100% of the time with no damages or repairs)… so this is likely the minimal of what renters would be paying (compared to what the investors pay).

Being an investor is cheaper in the long-term, but it requires a larger up-front investment which isn’t something everyone is interested in. …so I suspect most people would be renters, even though it costs more long-term.
Here are the average annual per-person cost-of-living estimates:

How does the Freedom Haven project compare with [project XYZ]?

The Freedom Haven project is the only active project in the world that seeks to provide all of the socioeconomic freedoms that we seek on the high seas outside the jurisdiction of existing nations (outside the EEZ). Anything inside the EEZ will be under the jurisdiction of the coastal nation and you’ll be subject to their laws. These other projects do not offer the level of freedom that we seek (although “Atlas Island” may come the closest).

  • Arkhaus: Its goal is to build floating homes inside the EEZ.
  • ArkPad: Its goal is to build floating homes inside the EEZ.
  • Arktide: Its goal is to build floating homes inside the EEZ.
  • Atlantis Sea Colony: Its goal is to build underwater homes inside the EEZ. They also do the “Colonize The Ocean” podcast mentioned on our “Articles and Links” page.
  • Atlas Island: Its goal is similar to Freedom Haven’s but with smaller structures (more vulnerable to bad weather) with solutions that are more expensive, with slightly less freedom and more costly import and export costs. Their plans to avoid bad weather is to move out of the path of bad weather as needed. But they might end up having a hub at Freedom Haven after it’s built, so the projects are not mutually exclusive.
  • Blueseed: Its goal WAS to use a cruise ship to provide floating housing inside the EEZ. The project failed and is considered abandoned.
  • Blue Frontiers: Its goal is to build floating homes inside the EEZ.
  • Ethos Island: Its goal is to build floating homes inside the EEZ in a few years with possible goals in 10 years that may or may not include future seasteading outside the EEZ. Commitments to freedom are unsure.
  • FlexBase Singapore: Its goal is to build floating homes inside the EEZ.
  • Floating Island Project in French Polynesia: Its goal WAS to build floating homes inside the EEZ, but the coastal nation’s government shut it down in 2017 and it’s considered abandoned.
  • Freedom Ship: A planned massive (over a mile long with airport) ship that never materialized and is considered abandoned. As a luxurious cruise ship that millionaires live on, it planned on slowly cruising around the world. No real additional socioeconomic freedoms were being offered. This concept was later implemented in a MUCH smaller scale with “MS The World”.
  • Freedom Haven: Its goal is to build a floating port city OUTSIDE the EEZ with the highest levels of socioeconomic freedom on the planet
  • French Polynesia: See “Floating Island Project in French Polynesia”
  • Life At Sea Cruises: A more affordable cruise ship (the “MV Gemini”) that slowly cruises around the world for 3 years. Scheduled to depart November 1, 2023. No real additional socioeconomic freedoms are offered.
  • MS The World: A luxurious cruise ship that millionaires live on that slowly cruises around the world. No real additional socioeconomic freedoms are offered.
  • MV Gemini: See “Life At Sea Cruises”
  • Ocean Builders: Its goal is to build floating homes (called “SeaPods”) inside the EEZ. See also “Satoshi” and “XLII”.
  • Principality of Sealand: Initially created in 1943 (WWII) 7 nautical miles or 13 km from Suffolk, UK, as “HM Fort Roughs”, but later abandoned after the end of the war. It was reclaimed by various individuals starting in 1967 and around 1968 was renamed “Sealand” then later “Principality of Sealand”. Since this was outside of UK’s legal jurisdiction (which is 3 nautical miles from shore) a UK court partially acknowledged their claim. Later when the UNCLOS was established and the area was claimed under the new EEZ, some maintain there is recognized claim to a small area around the Principality of Sealand. Sealand still exists today although it is not formally recognized as a country.
    The Principality of Sealand is tiny (a small fraction of the size of the New Liberty vessel) and doesn’t offer the level of socioeconomic freedom that we seek.
  • Republic of Rose Island: A successful seastead from 1967-1969 built 11 km (6.8 mi) from shore of Rimini, Italy – which was outside of Italy’s legal jurisdiction at the time (3 nautical miles or 3.452 miles or 5.556 km). The Republic of Rose Island was in the process of being successfully recognized as an independent country by the UN when Italy attacked and sank it, making Italy’s aggression an act of war. The results of this conflict led to the UN’s formation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) starting in 1973, which resulted in the new concept of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which is 200 nautical miles from shore.
  • Rose Island: See “Republic of Rose Island”
  • Satoshi: Its goal WAS to use a cruise ship purchased to provide floating homes inside the EEZ. The project failed and is considered abandoned. See also “Ocean Builders”.
  • Sealand: See “Principality of Sealand”.
  • SeaPod: See “Ocean Builders”.
  • Seasteading Institute, The: This isn’t actually a single seasteading project, but is instead a non-profit organization that seeks to promote seasteading in general and helps multiple different seasteading projects (including the Freedom Haven project). We are very grateful for everything they have done and continue to do for our project. 😊
  • Seastead.ai Ltd: Its goal is to build floating homes inside the EEZ.
  • Thailand Seastead: See “XLII”.
  • Ventive Floathouse: Its goal is to build floating homes inside the EEZ, with possible future plans to build stronger bigger homes that can survive outside of that.
  • World, The: See “MS The World”.
  • XLII: (Roman Numeral for “42”) A single family seastead spar set up inside the EEZ of Thailand in 2019, but which the Thai Navy confiscated and destroyed. This spar design evolved into the “Seapod” currently being built by “Ocean Builders”.
Freedom Haven