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Good that you asked, I looked for some newer news regarding this ship (the $1,300/mo rent was actually the info published during some early optimism that the epidemic would be over in the fall of 2020 :-). Well, there is a whole saga of this ship. It was a former cruise ship that went under a different name when it used to cruise, but some superrich but fairly clueless businessfolk bought it, renamed it MS Satoshi (evidently after someone/something having to do with bitcoin), and refurbished it with the idea to turn it into a luxury floating work-life space for digital nomads. But all sorts of problems ensued from the fact that these richfolks apparently knew nothing about maritime law, plus very few people purchased the cabins. Although I don't think that was originally intended, they then anchored it in the Gulf of Panama, and intended to rent it yearly/monthly/daily as a floating but anchored luxury resort (with $1,300/mo inner cabins if you rent it for a year, plus other expenses that would bring your monthly cost to about $3,000, but living in a floating resort for $36k/yr still seems a good deal). But then came covid, and further articles say that the Gulf of Panama rental deal fell completely through too, and the luxiriously refurbished ship was about to be sold for scrap in India... but then it seems some British company bought it, and will employ it for shorter senior-oriented luxury cruises. Something like that, I did not read very carefully, you can google MS Satoshi. Anyway, sorry for the initial misinformation, I just did a quick search to see whether one can rent a cabin on a cruise ship for a year, and this $1,300 info came up - but it appears much more has happened after that :-). Well, it seemed pretty cool for a moment :-).
Have to say that reading about this was pretty funny, how these guys wanted to do this but went about it the wrong way... learning as they went along, instead of researching everything first. I can't even imagine how much money they lost.
Basically, in 2010, former Google engineer Patri Friedman had a dream of making the sea the new "it place" for people to live with freedom from the US government. In 2017, Friedman and the “seavangelist” Joe Quirk wrote a book, Seasteading which explains his dream. In October 2020, he and 2 others bought the cruise ship, then found out that his plan would back fire because the seas are, some of the most tightly regulated places on Earth. The cruise ship industry in particular is bound by intricate rules according to the Guardian article.
They originally started out wanting to build "sea pods" made of fiberglass that sit on a tripod shaped base attached to a single column. One article compares it to "The Jetson's" house.
In 2019, they started a company that is based in Panama to build the sea pods, they even built a factory, hiring 30 engineers and mechanics. In the beginning of 2020, they started building their SeaPod prototype but after they had the working prototype, they realized how slow going it would be, they'd only be able to make 2 a month.
They were interested in buying a ship but they were too expensive until COVID killed the cruise ship industry, which allowed them to buy the Pacific Dawn for under $10 million. The ship was built in 1991 for $280 million, and before COVID, the ship would cost someone more than $100 million.
While they got a great deal buying the cruise ship, they got a serious dose of reality after they bought it, starting with trying to sell the 777 rooms which they would auction off in November 2020. They had a lot of interest, but only a few people bought it. Then, in December, they decided to offer monthly rentals. They set their sights on a January 2021 grand opening.
They then got another dose of reality when they hired a ship management company because they knew nothing about the cruise industry. They then found out that the ships certificates had expired, they had to dry dock it, get repairs and inspections. When they were done, the ship finally left on December 3rd for Panama.
More reality slapped them in the face when they started to see how much it costs to actually operate that basement bargain ship they bought. Fuel was $12,000 a day and the ship could easily cost a million dollars a month. Ooops...
They then planned to de-register it as a ship, instead wanted it to be a floating residence instead to avoid some requirements of maritime law. One they wanted to avoid was sewage because the ship had a system installed that would turn sewage into drinkable water but Panama wouldn't allow them to use that system to discharge the wastewater into their water. In order to discharge the drinkable waste water, they'd have to take the ship 12 miles into international waters every 3 weeks. I guess that would be if they did manage to sell and rent every room.
The next dose of reality was insurance. They could not get insured to be a Panamanian "seastead" which the underwriters were clueless on what to do with their ship community that would consist of what the article refers to as "quick-to-litigate Americans".
They're not done being slapped by reality... They had a ship they couldn't insure that there wasn't much interest in by people wanting to rent or buy, so they decided to not do it. They instead decided to send the ship for scrap. The ship had not gotten to Panama yet. On December 18, 2020 they sold the ship to a scrapyard in India, but once again, things did not go as "planned," the contract with the scrapyard fell through too due to disposal of hazardous waste.
In the end, they managed to sell the ship to Ambassador Cruise Line, the ship was renamed Ambience which they're planning to start cruises with it in April 2022 for traditional cruises.
In 2020, three cryptocurrency enthusiasts bought a pandemic-bargain cruise ship with plans to create a libertarian utopia, that would be, in theory, free from conventions, regulations, and taxes. The 777 cabin, 804′ long ex-Pacific Dawn, would be anchored permanently off the coast of Panama and provide a home for freedom-loving digital nomads, entrepreneurs, and traders in crypto-currency. In homage to Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of bitcoin’s mysterious inventor (or inventors), they renamed the ship the MS Satoshi. The ship would be the first large-scale attempt at “seasteading.”
The three founders of the project are software engineer turned bitcoin trader Chad Elwartowski, entrepreneur Grant Romundt, and bit-coin wealthy German engineer Rüdiger Koch. They had previously formed a company, Ocean Builders, to develop single-unit dwellings as the basis of a potential seasteading community.
....From behind a large lectern, Friedman – grandson of Milton Friedman, one of the most influential free-market economists of the last century – laid out his plan. He wanted to transform how and where we live, to abandon life on land and all our decrepit assumptions about the nature of society. He wanted, quite simply, to start a new city in the middle of the ocean.
Friedman called it seasteading: “Homesteading the high seas,” a phrase borrowed from Wayne Gramlich, a software engineer with whom he’d founded the Seasteading Institute in 2008, helped by a $500,000 donation from Thiel. In a four-minute vision-dump, Friedman explained his rationale. Why, he asked, in one of the most advanced countries in the world, were they still using systems of government from 1787?.... ......Government, he believed, needed an upgrade, like a software update for a phone. “Let’s think of government as an industry, where countries are firms and citizens are customers!” he declared.
...Within three to six years, he imagined ships being repurposed as floating medical clinics. Within 10 years, he predicted, small communities would be permanently based on platforms out at sea. In a few decades, he hoped there would be floating cities “with millions of people pioneering different ways of living together”.
The Satoshi also offered a chance to marry two movements, of crypto-devotees and seasteaders, united by their desire for freedom – from convention, regulation, tax. Freedom from the state in all its forms. But converting a cruise ship into a new society proved more challenging than envisaged. The high seas, while appearing borderless and free, are, in fact, some of the most tightly regulated places on Earth. The cruise ship industry in particular is bound by intricate rules.
Have to say that reading about this was pretty funny, how these guys wanted to do this but went about it the wrong way... learning as they went along, instead of researching everything first. I can't even imagine how much money they lost.
Basically, in 2010, former Google engineer Patri Friedman had a dream of making the sea the new "it place" for people to live with freedom from the US government. In 2017, Friedman and the “seavangelist” Joe Quirk wrote a book, Seasteading which explains his dream. In October 2020, he and 2 others bought the cruise ship, then found out that his plan would back fire because the seas are, some of the most tightly regulated places on Earth..........
Well, I am glad it had a happy ending because......an unregistered ship at sea is a pirate vessel and there may be some signees of the treaty who believe in hanging.
I am 77 years old, in moderately good health, with $250,000 in cash (in an account that has ~$1.25 Million). Just wondering what this community suggest I do with that cash. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Have to say that reading about this was pretty funny, how these guys wanted to do this but went about it the wrong way... learning as they went along, instead of researching everything first. I can't even imagine how much money they lost.
Basically, in 2010, former Google engineer Patri Friedman had a dream of making the sea the new "it place" for people to live with freedom from the US government. In 2017, Friedman and the “seavangelist” Joe Quirk wrote a book, Seasteading which explains his dream. In October 2020, he and 2 others bought the cruise ship, then found out that his plan would back fire because the seas are, some of the most tightly regulated places on Earth. The cruise ship industry in particular is bound by intricate rules according to the Guardian article.
They originally started out wanting to build "sea pods" made of fiberglass that sit on a tripod shaped base attached to a single column. One article compares it to "The Jetson's" house.
In 2019, they started a company that is based in Panama to build the sea pods, they even built a factory, hiring 30 engineers and mechanics. In the beginning of 2020, they started building their SeaPod prototype but after they had the working prototype, they realized how slow going it would be, they'd only be able to make 2 a month.
They were interested in buying a ship but they were too expensive until COVID killed the cruise ship industry, which allowed them to buy the Pacific Dawn for under $10 million. The ship was built in 1991 for $280 million, and before COVID, the ship would cost someone more than $100 million.
While they got a great deal buying the cruise ship, they got a serious dose of reality after they bought it, starting with trying to sell the 777 rooms which they would auction off in November 2020. They had a lot of interest, but only a few people bought it. Then, in December, they decided to offer monthly rentals. They set their sights on a January 2021 grand opening.
They then got another dose of reality when they hired a ship management company because they knew nothing about the cruise industry. They then found out that the ships certificates had expired, they had to dry dock it, get repairs and inspections. When they were done, the ship finally left on December 3rd for Panama.
More reality slapped them in the face when they started to see how much it costs to actually operate that basement bargain ship they bought. Fuel was $12,000 a day and the ship could easily cost a million dollars a month. Ooops...
They then planned to de-register it as a ship, instead wanted it to be a floating residence instead to avoid some requirements of maritime law. One they wanted to avoid was sewage because the ship had a system installed that would turn sewage into drinkable water but Panama wouldn't allow them to use that system to discharge the wastewater into their water. In order to discharge the drinkable waste water, they'd have to take the ship 12 miles into international waters every 3 weeks. I guess that would be if they did manage to sell and rent every room.
The next dose of reality was insurance. They could not get insured to be a Panamanian "seastead" which the underwriters were clueless on what to do with their ship community that would consist of what the article refers to as "quick-to-litigate Americans".
They're not done being slapped by reality... They had a ship they couldn't insure that there wasn't much interest in by people wanting to rent or buy, so they decided to not do it. They instead decided to send the ship for scrap. The ship had not gotten to Panama yet. On December 18, 2020 they sold the ship to a scrapyard in India, but once again, things did not go as "planned," the contract with the scrapyard fell through too due to disposal of hazardous waste.
In the end, they managed to sell the ship to Ambassador Cruise Line, the ship was renamed Ambience which they're planning to start cruises with it in April 2022 for traditional cruises.
Thank you for the detailed research :-). This is actually an example of what Millenials seem to consider "business enterprise". I looked up Patri Friedman, and he was born in 1976, which is not technically Millenial but towards the end of GenX, however, the post-1975 or so vintages are de facto culturally Millenials. That generation is marked by a combination of astonishing cluelessness and supreme arrogance, having no idea of how much they don't know, while simultaneously believing they are the crown of creation :-). That is why nowadays you can't get anything done, no matter how simple, without someone making ten thousand mistakes. When I call any customer service about anything, I am nowadays prepared to need at least 10 more calls in order to have the matter finally resolved. Every subsequent customer service representative needs to correct some mistake than the previous one made :-).
PS- further reading of Patri Friedman's bio in Wikipedia reveals Patri is a grandson of Milton Friedman. Good grief, is the grandfather turning in his grave??
Spend your money on things that are meaningful to you. Vacations, sponsorships, charities. I pulled most of my funds out of the stock market several years ago. Only have about 10% in the market now and the rest sits in CD’s or rental properties. Interest rate on CD’s is a joke but at age 72, I am very risk adverse.
My DH wants to take a year-long cruise and we may do that!
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