Sprung from: The Isle of Boat http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Isle_20of_20Boat

And referencing the case of Sealand: http://geography.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa081100a.htm and http://www.sealandgov.com

Build a fortified platform out in international waters. Annex it to your state, like they used to: "I clame this land in the name of [insert head of state]" and plant appropriate flag. Then it can be considered a colony. If it is situated in international waters then it can claim to that patch and 6 miles of water around it. Do it many times and you may take over an ocean! I think that international states may get a little pissed off with this behaviour. BUT, consider a war situation, you can stick an outpost right up to an enemy states border and under international law its ok. This idea may already be mostly baked because the Dutch have been reclaiming land from the sea with all their dykes for years, I wonder when they'll reach the UK.
-- not-arf, Jun 23 2004

Law and Sealand http://en.wikipedia...tatehood_of_Sealand
According to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ... islands may no longer be constructed and then claimed as sovereign states, or as state territories, for the purposes of extension of an exclusive economic zone or of territorial waters. [BunsenHoneydew, Mar 12 2008]

Cod War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_War
No, not a CoLd War, athough I'm sure it was a tad chilly. [BunsenHoneydew, Mar 12 2008]

when the Dutch link up I'm driving to Amsterdam, now that would be a good road trip.
-- engineer1, Jun 23 2004


Why fix it in one spot? Widely known to exist as the 'Carrier Battle Group' in the US Navy. Just you try getting within 'six miles' of one of those groups on the high seas.

The stationary version is also pretty baked - witness the argy bargy over the Spratleys and other microscopic bits of rock in strategic locations.

BTW, artificial platforms are not recognised as giving rise to territorial waters claims - there must be a projection of the natural substrate above the water line at some time of the tidal cycle. It's got to be a natural island or reef or newly formed volcano or something.
-- ConsulFlaminicus, Jun 23 2004


Cunningly, the east coast of the UK is disappearing at almost the same rate as the Dutch are expanding.
-- oneoffdave, Jun 23 2004


ConsulFlaminicus: good point but it's not considered a country, people could live and work on these things. think of sticking them in the middle of the best fishing spots. hah I will have all the fish! ;) Even better artificial tourist destinations with beaches if you want them, only thing is if you swim out too far and down and back your underneath it!

oneoffdave, I wondered where all that coastal material is going, the Dutch are nicking it, its like pulling the rug out from under us!
-- not-arf, Jun 23 2004


Besides the British Empire got the strategic bits, Gibralta and the Falklands are all we really have left.
-- engineer1, Jun 23 2004


in IS the Red Witch Dead, by Bill Frash a small submarine (WW2) gets stuck on a sand bar and as the swirling current flows over it, sand piles up; and over a short time forms a sand island complete with undergrowth. It was uninhabited for years, and when the gold hunters discovered and moved the submarine, the island melted away.
-- dentworth, Jun 23 2004


I was in Amsterdam once. I do remember a surprising number of dykes.
-- RayfordSteele, Jun 23 2004


Is this akin to the "floating fortresses" of Orwell's "1984?"
-- LoriZ, Oct 15 2004


I was in Dubai a few days ago, and it seems they're already doing this very thing. But no, not in your standard 'let's reclaim some land' way -- they are building new islands that exactly replicate a massive palm tree with poetry around it, and coming along later, a map of the world! Isn't that weird?
-- rachelnunson, Oct 15 2004


Alas quoting the case of Sealand belies your claims rather than supporting them. It was the very fact (as [ConsulFlaminicus] points out) that national territory does _not_ extend to artificial platforms that stopped the United Kingdom from exercising legal power over the inhabitants of Fort Roughs in the first place.

But if you stick it in the middle of the best fishing spot, you can expect a Cod War or two on your hands.

See [linky] - is there such an [mfd] as bad law?
-- BunsenHoneydew, Mar 12 2008


I envision a Machiavellian Kama Sutra.
-- bungston, Mar 12 2008


I was thinking along similar lines - must be spring.
-- normzone, Mar 12 2008


//Cunningly, the east coast of the UK is disappearing at almost the same rate as the Dutch are expanding.// Has anyone checked where they get their topsoil from? I've noticed that the Dutch tend to favour loose trousers, perhaps with deep pockets, over tight jeans.

I think we should look into this most carefully.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 12 2008



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