#cruise ship

[evan-collins90]

Interiors of the Carnival Ecstasy cruise ship, designed by the legendary Joe Farcus (1991)

Mainly designed in the Deco-Luxe style popular in the 1980s-early 1990s, along with Diner-Kitsch in the Metropolis Bar, and the a sort of 'Victorian explorer's lounge' look in the library. The ship was remodeled in 2009, and then scrapped in 2022.

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I worked on a cruise ship that had such a high mortality rate that it was my job to, every morning, knock on the cabin doors and make sure everyone was still alive.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Oh dear! :D (from reddit)

[humanoidhistory]

John Berkey's cutaway view of the supership of tomorrow in Popular Mechanics, December 1988.

[edinburgh-by-the-sea]

sail away

[ltwilliammowett]

Rigging of the Sea Cloud Spirit, a modern cruise tall ship

[unbfacts]

You can purchase a residence on a cruise ship, paying an annual fee that includes all amenities typically provided on traditional cruises.

[hellsgate-roadhouse]

[jumy-m]

Jumy-M A cruise ship is at the port / 誰かが旅に出る

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I was helping board passengers on a cruise ship and sang a song with two people who were dating about how one of them was still in love with her ex and the other was super depressed about her grandmother dying.

[todays-problematic-ship]

Today's Problematic Ship is the Satoshi

The Satoshi was a cruise ship owned by Ocean Builders, a company dedicated to "seasteading," an attempt to create a seabourne community free of laws imposed on dry land, with strong ties to the cryptocurrency movement.

The 1991-built ship, originally named Regal Princess but renamed Pacific Dawn in 2007, was purchased by Ocean Builders in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The idea was to permanently anchor the ship in Panamian waters, as the central hub of an eventual community of "SeaPods", essentially individual houses at sea, which would be arranged around the Satoshi in the form of a Bitcoin B.

It quickly became evident that the people running Ocean Builders had no understanding of how to operate a ship: they initially failed to ensure their ship had certificate of seaworthiness to allow it to sail to Panama (where the venture was to be based), and even after this no-one was willing to insure the ship, making it impossible for passengers to live onboard. They also planned to re-engine the ship while it was out at sea, a physically impossible task to accomplish without sinking the ship in the process.

The leadership of Ocean Builders blamed all this on shipping being "plagued by over-regulation." (Many of our entries here at Today's Problematic Ship demonstrate those regulations exist for a reason). The end result was predictable: by the time the Satoshi arrived in Panama it had been sold to an Indian shipbreaker.

Except Ocean Builders had signed a contract they could not honour: according to the Basel Convention, which covers the disposal of hazardous waste, they weren’t allowed to send the ship from a signatory country (Panama) to a non-signatory country (India). Thus the sale was cancelled, and subsequently the ship was arrested by Panamian authorities.

Eventually, the Satoshi was sold in 2021 a different startup company, Ambassador Cruise Line. The new venture, who actually knew how to operate a cruise ship, started successful operations with the former Satoshi, now renamed Ambience, in 2022.

The Guardian has a detailed article about the saga of the Satoshi and the seasteading movement.

[humanoidhistory]

Cruise ship of the future, illustrated by John Berkey in Popular Mechanics, November 1997.

[singledigitsalary]

[whitefireprincess]

Miami, Florida | Calder Wilson

[lappophotography]

Classic sunset shot from the cruise ship taken on my iPhone.

Merry Christmas everyone 🎄