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This is a very hard engineering problem. And very very expensive. There are loads of problems, some such as hurricanes and rogue waves discussed in the article

by mixmax 18y ago

This is a very hard engineering problem. And very very expensive. There are loads of problems, some such as hurricanes and rogue waves discussed in the article, and some such as fire not discussed. None of which are trivial. Basically what they are talking about is an oil rig without the oil equipment. These will set you back many hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions. And they still aren't 100% safe. In 1988 a fire broke out on the piper alpha [+] platform in the North Sea, resulting in the death of 2/3 of the crew. The whole platform sank to the bottom of the ocean. And as marketer notes in the above comment security is a huge issue too. [+] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Alpha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_Alpha [+]Video: http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&hs=03m&q=piper+alpha&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=YXaHSbu1Os-g-gbYnPAr&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title# http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&client=firefox...

gravitycop 18y ago
some [problems] such as fire not discussed. Fire protection is discussed on the seasteading website: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aseasteading.org+fire http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aseasteading.org+fire The structures are generally envisioned to be made of concrete (or cementitious composite), a fireproof material. In 1988 a fire broke out on the piper alpha [+] platform in the North Sea, resulting in the death of 2/3 of the crew. Perhaps oil had something to do with that fire. Are seasteading spars necessarily loaded with oil?
- mixmax 18y ago
  The risk is obviously much bigger on an oil rig, but fire at sea is a very real problem, and something that haunts all sailors. The problem is twofold: 1) You have to put the fire out yourself, the fire department or coast guard won't be able to reach you before it's too late. 2) You have nowhere to go.

by mixmax 18y ago

gravitycop 18y ago

some [problems] such as fire not discussed. Fire protection is discussed on the seasteading website: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aseasteading.org+fire http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aseasteading.org+fire The structures are generally envisioned to be made of concrete (or cementitious composite), a fireproof material. In 1988 a fire broke out on the piper alpha [+] platform in the North Sea, resulting in the death of 2/3 of the crew. Perhaps oil had something to do with that fire. Are seasteading spars necessarily loaded with oil?

mixmax 18y ago
The risk is obviously much bigger on an oil rig, but fire at sea is a very real problem, and something that haunts all sailors. The problem is twofold: 1) You have to put the fire out yourself, the fire department or coast guard won't be able to reach you before it's too late. 2) You have nowhere to go.