Better Freedom Ship

I think the Freedom Ship concept is a great idea, I just don't approve of their particular design. It's probably not possible to build and make their design work for 50,000 people but a smaller, circular, slow moving ship for 9,000 people may be possible.

The ship would travel the Mediterranean Sea during the winter months and move up into the Baltic Sea for summer. Expected ports would be:
September Spain-Malaga, Cartagena, Palma, Barcelona. France-Marseille, Toulon, Nice/Monaco. Italy-Genoa, Livorno. Corsica-Bastia. Italy-Anzio, Naples, October Salerno, Messina, Taranto, Brindisi. Greece-Kerkira, Patras, Piraea's (Athens), Thessaloniki, Kavala. Turkey-Kumkale, Istanbul. Bulgaria-Burgas, Varna. Romania-Constanta, Sulina. November Soviet Union-Odessa, Sevastopol, Yalta, Zhdanov, Taganrog, Yeysk, Kerch, Sukhumi. Turkey-Trabzon, Samsun, Zonguldak, Istanbul, Sarkoy. Greece-Mitilini. Turkey-Izmir. December Greece-Khios, Samos. Turkey-Bodrum. Greece-Kos, Rhodes. Turkey-Finike, Anamur. Cyprus-Rizokarpason. Turkey-Antioch. Syria-Baniyas. Lebanon-Beirut. Israel-Haifa, Tel Aviv. Egypt-Port Said, Alexandria, Sidi Barani. January Libya-Tobruk, Bengazi, Tripoli. Malta-Valetta. Tunisia-Tunis. Algeria-Collo, Algiers, Oran. Morocco-Ceuta, Rabat. Spain-Cadiz, Lepe. Portugal-Lagos, Lisbon, Figuera da Foz, Porto. February Spain-Sta. Eugenia, La Coruna, Gijon, Santander, San Sebastian. France-Biarritz, Mimizan, Soulac, La Rochelle, Pornic, Port Louis, Brest. England-Plymouth, Bournemouth, March Portsmouth, Brighton. France-Calais, Dunkerque. Belgium-Zeebrugge. Netherlands-Vlissingen, The Hague, Den Helder, Harlingen. Germany-Norden, Wilhelmshaven, Bremerhaven, Heide. Denmark-Esbjerg. Norway-Mandal. April Denmark-Hjorring. Sweden-Goteborg. Denmark-Copenhagen. Sweden-Malmo, Karlskrona, Nynashamn. Finland-Hango, Helsinki. Soviet Union-Leningrad. Estonia-Tallimn. Latvia-Riga, Ventspils, Klaipeda, Kaliningrad. Poland-Gdansk, May Kolobrzeg. Germany-Greifswald, Warnemund, Kiel. Denmark-Fredericia, Arhus. Sweden-Goteborg. Denmark-Esbjerg. June Scotland Ireland West coast of England July West coast of England August France Spain


I imagine it would be circular in shape, 1,500 feet in diameter with a rounded bottom. It will be extremely stable in rough seas. Two large underwater intakes provide water to the desalinator system and the two internal electric propellers. The rudder is mounted to the aft end of the long stabilizer beneath the ship. The second level above sea level has a wide running lane that goes completely around the city. One to four bedroom ocean view townhouses begin at the third level and taper upward. Outward facing townhouses completely surround the upper decks of the floating island.

The center of the top level of the city is a nature area with palm trees growing out of small grass covered hills and winding asphalt paths that curve through small groves of fruit trees and flower gardens. There is a small outdoor concert area where residents can watch plays produced by the high school drama department and there is a soccer/football field, two softball/baseball fields, and courts for basketball and tennis. Residents are encouraged to form sports leagues and schedule the facilities with the ships Agricultural department.

-One large opening with a closeable weather door, for the launching of the eighteen large and four small hovercraft. Each large hovercraft is capable of carrying 80 passengers at a top speed of 40 mph to and from shore at a cost of $5 round trip. The small hovercraft's carry 18 each at 35 mph. The ships transportation office makes arraignments for local taxi's to be waiting upon a hovercrafts arrival to shore.

-Four helicopter landing pads for transporting people to and from shore. Two AB139 Bell helicopters, at $8 million each, with a range of 400 nm and can carry 15 passengers at a speed of 157 knots. Passengers can request flights to destinations on the ships transportation office web site. The more people that sign up, the cheaper the ticket's are for each passenger. A flight may take place for a single passenger but they must pay for the full operating cost of that flight.

-One level of the ship would be the farms level. Internally raised beef, milk, pork, and poultry would supplement the ships food and reduce dependance on foreign supplies. All vegetables would need to be from foreign sources.

Townhouses:
Owners pay a monthly fee to cover ships employees, maintenance, and fuel expenses. Each townhouse comes completely furnished. Residents have a choice of a number of different bedroom set styles for the master and other bedrooms. One computer with internet is provided along with a double door refrigerator, dining table and chairs, kitchen appliances, utensils and dishes, washing machine, dryer, family room couch, loveseat, recliner, stereo system with a thin 50" wall mounted plasma television with satellite system already installed. All home owners pay a monthly fee that provides tax income to pay for city services.

The Water Department maintains the ships fresh water desalinators and salt water toilet system. There would be a well trained and equipped security department, electrical department, communications dept., a hospital, a ships hotel, libraries, restuarants of all types, bars and dance clubs, ships supermarkets, shopping malls (only sell small, hand carried items), and movie theaters.

With cheap labor it could be built for about $2 billion and the sale of the townhouses would cover that.

 

I think it's a really cool idea, but I don't think it ought to be called a "Freedom Ship", since it will be so expensive and living on it for a year or two will be reserved for the wealthy and extravagant, or at least for spendthrifts. It's basically a big, floating, travelling apartment with a commercial district and school system.

Freedom's more about working together than throwing money all around.
That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to work on thing for a while, if I could earn enough to live there. But it's an expensive lifestyle and offers less freedom than a cruising or RV lifestyle, where you can decide to go where you want and when.

Also, I think it would be a good idea to use alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power, probably in addition to a hybrid engine. Maybe biodiesel? I wonder if fast food places use enough grease to fuel this giant?

Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way?

Also, why couldn't you grow vegetables aboard the ship? There's sufficient sunlight on the upper level, isn't there? That would save a lot of money, and lower costs.

Lastly, wouldn't a round hull be very costly? It would use up much more fuel, since there's so much drag, especially a huge round hull. For a boat that's always moving, even slowly, a round hull seems like it's not the best choice. A bargelike hull of that size would be stable enough, and perhaps more stable, than a round, semi-spherical one, and lower fuel consumption and therefore cost.

My criticisms aren't a personal attack or anything, I'm just skeptical. Please don't take this as flaming.

Wow, I read everything I said and realized that by opinions are wavering back and forth between Communism and Transcendentalism. I'm much more of a Transcendentalist than a commie.

I did a google search and looked around, and this site popped up:
http://www.escapeartist.com/OREQ4/Freedom_Ship.html

What if the boat sinks? Maybe it can take a glacier or two, but what if terrorists blow a hole in it? The Freedom Ship's a sitting duck for something like that. It would be easy-someone motors up to it in a floating dingy, nothing the freedom ship can do about that. Then, boom, and there's a gaping hole in the ship. Nothing's unsinkable. Even if there were sufficient lifeboats and everyone had a lifejacket, which is not true of the current design, a lot of people would die in the confusion.

Also, whoever owns the boat would be the Supreme Dictator of Everything. A monachy's not freedom, hehe.

Maybe if everyone in the community owned the boat, if they all had an equal share somehow, then it would be free. I don't see how that would work.
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My idea of a Freedom Ship is more of a Freedom Boat- one that anyone can build to their specifications, as big or small as they want. It would cost as much money to make as they decided to spend on it, and they'd take along whoever they wanted to come. If you want, you can spend a few hundred bucks on a canoe, outrigger, mast, and tarp sail. It'll get you around, and you could sleep on beaches. That's a real mountain-man lifestyle, but it could be fun. ( http://www.mit.edu/people/robot/ <-This guy did that, not as a lifestyle, but as a kind of vacation/adventure.) Maybe you're married, have two kids, and own a little house. Sell the house or maybe rent it out if it's possible, sell your car, and buy a fixer-upper yacht. Then fix it up. Maybe you're a wealthy businessman (or woman) and have decided that it's time to retire and relax. Pay a designer to design a nice yacht the way you want it, pay to have it built, rent out your bayside house for the summer, and cruise around.

But I guess freedom's in the eye of the beholder; in the mind of the individual. It's not a rigid formula- that would be totally contradictory to its meaning. You might want to live on the Freedom Ship, and can afford it. You might like the security and comfort, and not mind the prices. Then, by all means, do it.

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The townhouses would be sold to permanent residents, not rented, because you would need to money to pay off the loan to build it. This lifestyle would be attractive to many types, single, young families, retirees and not just the super rich. I figured out the townhouses would cost $450,000 for a single bedroom, inside cabin, to $710,000 for a large four bedroom, top level suite with an ocean view. And monthly fees would range from $160 to $220 plus residents would have to pay for electricity, water, internet, and phone bill. The ship/city would not make a profit though, any fees would be adjusted to pay only for operation and maintenance of the equipment.

Originally I had solar panels covering the roof of the upper level townhouses but they just don't produce enough energy for their cost when compared to diesel generators. Bio-diesel could certainly be used.

The problem with vegetables is the amount of land space required and their dependance on a normal seasonal cycle. I don't know how vegetables would react to summer in the Baltic Sea and winter in the Med, perhaps you could grow them year round. Even if you could grow them the land space required to provide vegetables for 9,000 people would probably be about a quarter to half of the whole upper deck. I think having grassy hills, winding walking paths, athletic fields, with some palm and fruit trees would be a more desirable use of that space.

I like the round hull for added strength and stability, it has to travel through the English Channel and North Sea. This is not something that you can put in drydock every 10 or 20 years to replace hull panels and stringers. A full day in port, then a night, another day and night moving to the next port. It's top speed can be just a few miles per hour.

 

Of course it'd be stable, it's freaking HUGE!!!!!! Geez, but I dunno about the townhouses. It'd be best to keep it nice sized, relatively pricey ($150 k for a 1 bedroom w/balcony) apartments and let EVERYBODY join in. It could be great, but think about price, luxury and economy (It may cost too much to run to be price-effective).

 

It certainly could be scaled down to half the size (750' diameter) with 4,500 residents. This would ease the food and fuel supplies needing to be brought aboard and reduce the flooding of visitors into small seaside towns. I don't know that it would cost that much less to build, maybe $1 billion. 75% of the cabins are internal with no windows, there's just no way around that.

Some of the shipboard jobs would be part-time: fire dept., helicopter and hovercraft pilots. And the ship would have additional income from it's hotel and carrying foreign day visitors out to the ship on hovercraft or helicopters.

The prices would come down for the townhouses with a smaller ship. $450,000 is a lot of money for a small, one bedroom, inside cabin, but remember the townhouses come fully furnished and with a full warranty on the home structure, electrical, water, and sewage systems. Also residents won't need to pay for vehicles, gasoline, or car insurance

 

How about building it out of Pykrete? Think of all the skiers and winter sports afficionados you'd attract with a mini-Matterhorn amidships to house the stack. And no need for airconditioning in your stateroom!

You could start at a modest size and just keep adding on to the ship as you signed up new residents!