Can you build your own island?

Bob001

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Rich guys are planning to build a giant island that will float in international waters, and homes for as many as 15,000 people will cost as much as a billion dollars.
The Blue Estate Group has been inundated with requests after unveiling plans for the man-made Blue Estate Island, where property prices start at $19,800 and rise to over $1 billion.

Located a 25-minute plane journey from Bahamas capital Nassau and just under 90 minutes from Miami, the island will measure 4,921 feet by 3,280 feet (1,500 meters by 1,000 meters), an area half the size of Monaco, and can accommodate up to 15,000 permanent residents.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/t...o-dollar1-billion/ar-BB1dCM0u?ocid=uxbndlbing

Forget whether it's a good idea. Is this technologically possible?
 
Sure, just find a shallow pace NOT in any country's sea limits, and dump a LOT of fill there. They make bottom-dump barges just for that.
 
casebro said:
Sure, just find a shallow pace NOT in any country's sea limits, and dump a LOT of fill there. They make bottom-dump barges just for that.
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AFAICT It would need to be outside the 200 mile exclusion zone of any\every country. This pretty much means deep water, which is probabaly why they specify *floating* island.

I'm no expert, but I'm not sure of the wisdom of building on something floating in a hurricane prone location.
 
lomiller said:
AFAICT It would need to be outside the 200 mile exclusion zone of any\every country. This pretty much means deep water, which is probabaly why they specify *floating* island.

I'm no expert, but I'm not sure of the wisdom of building on something floating in a hurricane prone location.
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They can have tornado shelters. Sure, they look more like coffins, but suppose they act somewhat like submarines. Forty feet down the wave action may not be that bad. And if it is, well at least I won't have to hear you complain about it!
 
Go big or go home: Rapture!

With any luck, it'll end the same way.

I jest, I jest.
 
Bob001 said:
Forget whether it's a good idea. Is this technologically possible?
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Here is the promotional video for the floating island on You Tube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGviWmbc8zo&feature=emb_logo


It looks more like a incredibly large ocean liner, rather than a small island to be inhabited.

Where do the workers live? Cleaners and shop operators can't afford housing on the island.

If I was rich, but still working, how would I get to work?

If there is no room for parks and most of the living are is "below deck", wouldn't that make it like living in a hotel?

I think this is a very dumb idea.
 

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Didn't the libertarians fantasise about the silliness a few years ago?
 
If it floats it isn't a true island.

I'm sure it's technically possible to do this. The only question is, is it worth it?

Does it make more sense than a large cruise ship?

Of course, like a cruise ship, the workers could have their own quarters. I don't really see that as an issue.

How would this hold up under rough weather? How long would it last before the salt water weakens the structure, making it unsafe? There may be a reason why nobody has successfully done this before. I don't think it's the first time that someone had a similar idea.
 
Yeah, if it floats it isn't an island. It's a... what's a good word for a ship that never moves? it's a hulk. A luxury hulk no doubt. They were used as prisons in the Napoleonic era and it seems to me maybe this will feel similar after a while. A five star luxury prison sentence, self-imposed.
 
If I'm rich enough to afford this, I think it makes more sense to buy a mansion on land in a fancy neighborhood and my own private luxury yacht. The land-based mansion will have better resale value.
 
Puppycow said:
If it floats it isn't a true island.

I'm sure it's technically possible to do this. The only question is, is it worth it?

Does it make more sense than a large cruise ship?

Of course, like a cruise ship, the workers could have their own quarters. I don't really see that as an issue.

How would this hold up under rough weather? How long would it last before the salt water weakens the structure, making it unsafe? There may be a reason why nobody has successfully done this before. I don't think it's the first time that someone had a similar idea.
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Is there not already a cruise ship like that, for the very wealthy?

ETA: This is what I was thinking of, The World. https://aboardtheworld.com/
 
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BowlOfRed said:
Maybe you're hoping for lower taxes out in the ocean?
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Well, you get what you pay for.

If they don't want to pay taxes, who is going to perform maintenance?

Will they need some kind of police services or security? A hospital? Is there a school on the island or is it only for people without young children? Have the designers even considered what to do about these things? What about trash? I hope they aren't planning to just chuck it into the ocean. How does sewage work? Electricity, how is it generated? Where does the fresh water come from?

You don't have to call them "taxes" but somehow these things either have to be paid for, or you have to do without them.
 
Matthew Ellard said:
Where do the workers live? Cleaners and shop operators can't afford housing on the island.

If I was rich, but still working, how would I get to work?

If there is no room for parks and most of the living are is "below deck", wouldn't that make it like living in a hotel?

I think this is a very dumb idea.
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$20,000 for some sort of livable "property" is less than e.g. any trailer home or condo around here.

But that would probably be a small below-decks apartment, for people whose jobs are also below-decks. So there would be "steerage"-class people and billionaires on the same floating island, presumably with rest of the traditional range of cruise ship ticket classes in between.

Great setting for a dystopian action movie.
 
Puppycow said:
Of course, like a cruise ship, the workers could have their own quarters. I don't really see that as an issue.
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The crew on a cruise ship get off and go home every now and then, from ports. Thus the crew can tolerate tiny quarters on board. However if the floating island has permanent residents and doesn't go into ports, then where do the permanent crew live and play? :)
 
Concepts like this come and go. I remember one from a few years ago that was more in the shape of a really big ship, it had an airstrip on top big enough to land mid-sized airliners.

"floating island" sounds so much better than "barges strapped together."
 
Myriad said:
Great setting for a dystopian action movie.
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I imagine that when humans spread to other solar systems, and if the journey takes several generations, that these sort of things will become reality. However I can see why anyone would want to live on one, for fun. :)
 
I hope this works. I hope it paves the way for more. It was a given that the early adopters would be the super rich. But we should not begrudge them. The problems they solve with their vast wealth, the solutions they pay through the nose to develop, will benefit all of humanity in time. People talk about colonizing Mars, but this right here is the way.
 
Go outside. Find a stick. Draw a perimeter around your home. Fill with water.

Done.

If you have a bunch of concrete, you are likely a serial murderer and worried about things other than islands.
 
I wonder what it will export? Or is it a place for the rich to live and that is all? If so I wonder what advantages it has for them? Most items would be far more expensive than on land as they would need to be imported.
 
rjh01 said:
I wonder what it will export? Or is it a place for the rich to live and that is all? If so I wonder what advantages it has for them? Most items would be far more expensive than on land as they would need to be imported.
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The advantage is not needing to mix with the merely rich - and the super rich could easily afford the extra cost of supplies.

Not convinced that international waters are actually the safest place for the super rich to hang out on a bunch of barges. Security could be an issue....
 
A fleet of service vessels would be a part of it for it to work.
These could include a few frigates and patrol boats.
Enough to deter any potential problem with pirates.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Yeah, if it floats it isn't an island. It's a... what's a good word for a ship that never moves? it's a hulk. A luxury hulk no doubt. They were used as prisons in the Napoleonic era and it seems to me maybe this will feel similar after a while. A five star luxury prison sentence, self-imposed.
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It's a barge. Cleopatra had one too, on the Nile.
 
Captain_Swoop said:
A fleet of service vessels would be a part of it for it to work.
These could include a few frigates and patrol boats.
Enough to deter any potential problem with pirates.
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I dont know of any modern pirates that would go that far out to sea. They'd need a bigger boat!
They usually target shipping channels. Cruise ships passing Somalia at night turn their lights out for this reason.

Water cannons would be cool though.
 
Sherkeu said:
I dont know of any modern pirates that would go that far out to sea. They'd need a bigger boat!
They usually target shipping channels. Cruise ships passing Somalia at night turn their lights out for this reason.

Water cannons would be cool though.
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Ships have been routinely hijacked by Somali pirates up to 500nm off the coast and ships have been attacked and captured up to 1,000nm off the coast in the Indian Ocean.

The pirates use a 'mother ships' to hunt down targets and carry supplies.

If they will operate that far out for a couple of million dollars ransom for a cargo ship, imagine how far they would go for a ship full of billionaires?
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Ships have been routinely hijacked by Somali pirates up to 500nm off the coast and ships have been attacked and captured up to 1,000nm off the coast in the Indian Ocean.

The pirates use a 'mother ships' to hunt down targets and carry supplies.

If they will operate that far out for a couple of million dollars ransom for a cargo ship, imagine how far they would go for a ship full of billionaires?
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Wow. I would never have guessed they'd be able to do that and get the ships to where they could collect. If there's money out there I suppose there's always a way!!
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Ships have been routinely hijacked by Somali pirates up to 500nm off the coast and ships have been attacked and captured up to 1,000nm off the coast in the Indian Ocean.

The pirates use a 'mother ships' to hunt down targets and carry supplies.

If they will operate that far out for a couple of million dollars ransom for a cargo ship, imagine how far they would go for a ship full of billionaires?
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OK, but that's still quite a bit different than the island in the OP. It will be just outside the waters of a least 3 countries including the United States.


ETA: I don't see it explicitly stated that it will be in international waters, assuming that from other things in the article (Visa requirements, for example).
 
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This project looks a lot like Marshall Savage's presentation of "Aquarius" in Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps. Except they appear to be using cement.
 
This would make more sense as a central hub for some sort of large open-water aquaculture plantation. But the billionaires would complain about the smell of fish and having to observe activity resembling work.
 
Myriad said:
This would make more sense as a central hub for some sort of large open-water aquaculture plantation. But the billionaires would complain about the smell of fish and having to observe activity resembling work.
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How would a central hub for some sort of large open-water aquaculture plantation make more sense than a central hub for some sort of large open-water aquaculture plantation?
 
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Myriad said:
This would make more sense as a central hub for some sort of large open-water aquaculture plantation. But the billionaires would complain about the smell of fish and having to observe activity resembling work.
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Wealthy plantation owners enjoying the privilege of watching people work has a lot of history, actually.
 
catsmate said:
Didn't the libertarians fantasise about the silliness a few years ago?
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The sovereign citizens did but running a boat or floating city requires money and hard work. These requires some sort of 'Captain' or manager.

Therefore not a good idea from their point of view
 
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