Plans for a £12bn 'floating city' dubbed the Freedom Ship have been unveiled, with capacity for 80,000 passengers and crew. The vessel, measuring a mile long, 800ft wide and 30 decks high, would be the largest ship ever built, according to parent company Freedom Cruise Line International.
The ship is designed to have no home port and will continuously circumnavigate the globe, powered by an onboard nuclear reactor. It will feature a concert hall, convention centre, water park, and a 15,000-capacity sports stadium, alongside a full-sized hospital and schools.
The concept was originally developed in the 1990s by American engineer Norman Nixon, but stalled after his death in 2012. Nixon envisioned a libertarian-leaning community operating largely outside any single nation's jurisdiction. The project was revived in March this year, with a project manager, designer and naval architect now working on it full-time.
Roger Gooch, chief executive of Freedom Cruise Line International, said raising the £12bn budget is the key challenge. Many facilities, including a nightclub and hotel spaces, could be leased to independent businesses. 'We want entrepreneurs to lease or buy space from us, just like they would in a land-based community,' he explained.
The ship will have around 50,000 permanent residents, 20,000 crew, and room for 10,000 visitors. Gooch noted that being a stateless community offers advantages, such as hosting medical research facilities outside regulatory reach. Designer Kevin Schopfer emphasised the importance of human scale in the ship's design.
