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Country for sale !! waterfront, must see

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by OutMyWindow, Jan 9, 2007.

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  1. OutMyWindow

    OutMyWindow Senior Member

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    LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters Life!) - For sale: the world's smallest country with its own flag, stamps, currency and passports.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Apply to Prince Michael of Sealand if you want to run your own nation, even if it is just a wartime fort perched on two concrete towers in the North Sea.

    Built in World War Two as an anti-aircraft base to repel German bombers, the derelict platform was taken over 40 years ago by retired army major Paddy Roy Bates who went to live there with his family.

    He declared the platform, perched seven miles off the east coast of England and just outside Britain's territorial waters, to be the principality of Sealand.

    The self-styled Prince Roy adopted a flag, chose a national anthem and minted silver and gold coins.

    The family saw off an attempt by Britain's Royal Navy to evict them and also an attempt in 1978 by a group of German and Dutch businessmen to seize Sealand by force.

    Roy, 85, now lives in Spain and his son Michael told BBC Radio on Monday his family had been approached by estate agents with clients "who wanted a bit more than a bit of real estate, they wanted autonomy."

    He suggested Sealand, which has eight rooms in each tower, could be a base for online gambling or offshore banking.

    Asked to describe the delights of living on what he described as a cross between a house and a ship, the 54-year-old said: "The neighbors are very quiet. There is a good sea view."
  2. yotphix

    yotphix New Member

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    Interesting, I have never befor thought of North Sea wind and waves as "quiet neighbours"!
  3. bvimatelot

    bvimatelot New Member

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    well - that brought back some memories!! As a young Lieutenant on the staff of the Flag Officer Medway,in whose "sea area" the Fort was, I remember the contingency plan we had to take back the Fort when/if, the Bates family ever left the place. The canny old so-and-so always left someone "on board" however, whenever they had to go ashore to do the shopping so we never got the chance to "invade" Tony
  4. Castlerock

    Castlerock Senior Member

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    Country Website

    This is a very interesting story. Apparently there was a fire in one of the generators and the fort was badly damaged.

    Here is the official country website with the photos:

    http://www.sealandgov.org/
  5. Rene GER

    Rene GER Senior Member

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    You want to become a Lord or something like that? pay the reduced price of 19.99 pounds to them. That's so funny...titles as a special offer...no no :D :D :D
  6. Kevin

    Kevin YF Moderator

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    That's actually tempting... "Lord Kevin" has a nice ring to it. :D

    If you buy two, do you get a special price? I'm just thinking, if I'm a Lord I think my girlfriend would like to be a Lady as well. LOL
  7. Rene GER

    Rene GER Senior Member

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  8. airship

    airship Senior Member

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    Until recently, the surest way to obtain a reasonable title without intimate relations with a Royal (and sometimes even that isn't enough - I'm thinking of Harrods...), was to contribute large sums of money to political parties.

    And before anyone actually doshes out any good money for Sealand, it might be worth pointing out that it would require only the merest hint of a rumour that the acquirer might be even remotely linked to Al Qaeda before the place was totally obliterated by C-130 Gunships (with the full approval of the UK I should add)... :p
  9. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    I'd like the titular 'Lord Of The Left Pier, Order Of The Barnacle', myself.

    On a serious note, these folks are missing the boat, as it were-- they ought to get into the Foreign Flagging business of pleasure yachts for the much larger initial fee plus the annual renewal residuals.

    If the Marshall Islands can do it...
  10. Crewagency

    Crewagency Guest

    European Union

    Maybe to become a member of the EU is also not a bad idea.
    2 % VAT on a Yacht purchase running under the Sealand Flag and never ever
    VAT problems on any Charter Income in the EU.
    Just wondering if there is also a 6 mile zone territory around ??
  11. airship

    airship Senior Member

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    Does Sealand come with a seat at the United Nations or would her "duly-appointed" representatives enjoy diplomatic immunity generally...?!

    Only, if that is the case, then I have an idea for how a buyer might recoup the purchase price quite rapidly: sell expensive cars to New Yorkers and inhabitants of other major cities with parking problems on a tax-free basis together with an entitlement to carry CD plates!

    I believe that the Egyptians have already proven the concept:

    New York City's concentration of consulates and diplomatic missions to the United Nations has created an ongoing problem for police trying to enforce traffic and parking regulations.

    The city says it has the right to act against all offenders - although its threat to tow away cars applied to consular vehicles, not to those with UN-registered plates.

    Egypt is said to be the worst offender, owing $1.6m for more than 15,000 tickets.
    :)
  12. Kevin

    Kevin YF Moderator

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    If you look up Sealand at Wikipedia.org there's a bit of an explanation of how the "territorial waters" were divided between Sealand and England.
  13. airship

    airship Senior Member

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    I was just thinking. Wouldn't it make more sense to just buy a plot on the moon and then declare yourself an independent country?

    That way at least, even though you weren't officially recognised, sympathetic passer-bys might lend you their mobile phones "to call home"? Also, it would become extremely expensive for the UK or other country to invade...in order to reimpose their sovereignty?!

    [Afterthought] You might then be able to charge NASA, the ESA etc. for registering their space shuttles, satellites, probes and sundry space stations under your Space-Ships Register (not to be confused with the UK SSR...[/Afterthought]
  14. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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  15. airship

    airship Senior Member

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    It's an interesting idea:
    I suppose that if everyone wanting to download Madonna's latest album had internet access via satellite and Pirate Bay had its own satellite-based servers, nuclear power station and teleport facilities, then it might just all work for awhile. Bearing in mind that the owners of copyright material have already taken such extreme steps as prosecuting skoolkids for thousands of dollars over copyright infringement successfully and that the Chinese competently censure the Internet with the full cooperation of major names like Google, I don't believe that Pirate Bay stand any chance...

    On the other hand, if someone was to buy Sealand in order to establish it as a new offshore EU banking haven with generously-credited accounts in the names of current politicians, then...? It's amazing just how difficult it is these days to get rid of offshore banking havens, unless they're caught red-handed with cocaine-impregnated dollars or euros on their way to Al Qaeda terrorists. Otherwise, in nautical terms, it's just like having a well-charted but obscure reef in the middle of a very busy shipping channel. You have to ask just why they're not dynamited out of existence - unless of course, they harbour a lot of marine life...(eg. it all smells fishy)?!
  16. LuvYachting

    LuvYachting New Member

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    Isn't the price reasonable for $2 billion? Someone like Gates/Allen/Ellison should buy this and start their own thing. No one can touch them.:confused:

    Just think an Octopus or Rising Sun would look splendid at SeaLand!:D