Is there anything to stop someone from going out and claiming

Nope, that's exactly what pic related was.

I would, but there is so much to look into.

1: Is it owned by someone?
2: Wear and Tear, damage.

Wear and Tear will be the major one because its going to cost a lot to fix plus the cost of getting supplies and material shipped to it.

>Trump
>South China sea

Yes there is.

>>1136825
Just some one else showing up with guns and then claiming it from you... which is what happened to sealand.

>>1136836
>Is it owned by someone?
Well I mean, if it's in international waters and there's no one on it, can it be legally owned?

>>1136848
So if a small group of well armed people just showed up and started a little commune there'd be nothing anyone could do about it short of killing them and taking it?

>>1136850
>In August 1978, Alexander Achenbach, who describes himself as the Prime Minister of Sealand, hired several German and Dutch mercenaries to spearhead an attack on Sealand while Bates and his wife were in England.[8] They stormed the platform with speedboats, jet skis and helicopters, and took Bates' son Michael hostage. Michael was able to retake Sealand and capture Achenbach and the mercenaries using weapons stashed on the platform. Achenbach, a German lawyer who held a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand[8] and was held unless he paid DM 75,000 (more than US$35,000 or £23,000).[17] The governments of the Netherlands, Austria and Germany petitioned the British government for his release, but the United Kingdom disavowed his imprisonment, citing the 1968 court decision.[3] Germany then sent a diplomat from its London embassy to Sealand to negotiate for Achenbach's release. Roy Bates relented after several weeks of negotiations and subsequently claimed that the diplomat's visit constituted de facto recognition of Sealand by Germany.[8]

>>1136825
>>1136848
Also, the UK extended its boarders (3nm to 12nm) and now includes Sealand. Since it is man made, it will never be recognized as a country.

>>1136855
hahahhaaha what the fuck? was it serious or just people fucking around?

>>1137082
i guess not

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand#Attack_in_1978_and_the_Sealand_Rebel_Government

this would be an awesome park. pay to be on one side, defend or attack

>>1136825
You're welcome to it. However the UN has a law somewhere that only the list of already recognized countries can form a new country so no one will ever recognize as being such if that's your plan. (But that doesn't stop you from having legalized drugs, prostitution, murder, etc. there).

I've always wondered why nerds get so hard at the idea of starting their own "country".

As to your question. No, absolutely not. There are tens of thousands of abandoned oil platforms in the oceans. No one wants them because they are useless.

One issue you will have is that most of the platforms aren't in international waters. You would need to be more than 24 miles away from land to be outside of the contiguous zone of that country. Within 24 miles the government has the right to patrol the water and has certain rights.

"In its contiguous zone, a coastal State may exercise the control necessary to prevent the infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea, and punish infringement of those laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea."

So that means no drugs or other illegal substances, no polluting the water, or any of those other things you generally want to do because "international waters".

Once you are past 24 nautical miles. The platform, which are considered ships, are subject to the laws of whatever country they are out of.

Since you are not a country, you can't just fly your own flag since it is not a recognized country. So really the best thing to do would be to fly the flag of some really shitty land locked country. One that has no laws against what you want to do and no ability to enforce those laws.

Now, unless you're doing some really fucked up shit, none of this matters. No country is going to waste time to go bust some 20 year olds smoking pot and playing pirate. Just know that you cannot start your own country, and the idea is stupid.

>>1136825
Think your pic related was/is abandoned again, after the fire and death of King Paddy. However, as said, it aint International Waters anymore (boundary was 3 miles, Sealands 7 offshore, Bongo boundary after 1987 now claimed as 12 miles). Which makes using random passing Germans as target practice and nonsense like >>1137083 mentioned bit more problematic, as Bongo Court jurisdiction. But Sealand aside, Oilcos legally obligied to remove unused rigs etc., they be overjoyed if someone squatted them, prevents their removal that, donnit? Offshore Removal = boatloads of costs
.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the U.S. extends 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline and is adjacent to the 12 nm territorial sea of the U.S., overlapping the 12-24nm contiguous zone. Within the EEZ, the U.S. has:

sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing natural resources, whether living and nonliving, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds
jurisdiction as provided for in international and domestic laws with regard to the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures, marine scientific research, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment
other rights and duties provided for under international and domestic laws

>>1137236
where you getting 24 miles? That would expand Bongo into Calais etc., for example - think its 12, but maybe wrong, has been known.

>>1137245
These are the US Costal laws. I'm sure other countries don't have them.

>>1137262
https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/csdl/mbound.htm

>>1137262
This wiki explains it well enough:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea

Just move here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Island_(Norway)

>>1137565

For a couple people you won't really need that many supplies.

And a ghetto 25' west Indian pirogue can handle waves better than any American sport fisher.

>>1136825
yes. sealand is only recognized because it was officially recognized as an independent country. when someone sent an ambassador to negotiate with them, fulfilling the requirement for recognition by another country. they dont allow this anymore. also international waters.

>>1136856
it is recognised.

>>1137565
please stop forcing this meme or guerrilla advertising or whatever you're doing.

>>1137644
>sealand is recognized as an independent country
eh, you maybe want to confirm this point with the UN or similar authority on the subject of 'are we a country?' - the claim was, is and remains, BS pure, but, its a nice story.

>>1136850
>Well I mean, if it's in international waters and there's no one on it, can it be legally owned?

Yes. Just because a piece of hardware or equipment is not manned and is in international waters does not mean it is abandoned, nor does it mean that the owners have not abdicated their rights.

That said, if it is actually abandoned ('orphaned' in admiralty parlance,) then one can place a claim on it as salvage. Expect a shitload of lawsuits.

>>1137644
>when someone sent an ambassador to negotiate with them
if a German ambassador goes to new jersey does that mean it's no longer part of the united states?

>>1137180
>However the UN has a law somewhere that only the list of already recognized countries can form a new country

Um, no, that's not how that works. The UN accepts applicant nations based on the favorable sponsorship of the Security Council (including no vetos by the five permanent members) and upon confirmation by simple majority in the General Assembly. The key is sponsorship by a member of the Security Council, which requires diplomatic recognition.

>>1138049

Salvage rights may be worth it depending on the circumstances.

If OP or anyone finds and abandoned rig or large vessel and simply drags it's bitch ass back to a scrap yard in a 50' tug they would be well within their rights to claim significant salvage value.

That percentage of increases with the level of danger to vessel or crew.

BUT again note that while there are guidelines local maritime law differs from country to country and sometimes wildly

>>1138059
Anything left at sea is rarely worth salvaging. The vast majority of abandoned rigs are fixed rigs, and have been stripped of everything of value. Any movable rigs would have either been moved and handled, or are too expensive to relocate for salvage. Remember, floating rigs run from the low hundreds of millions, to billions for a top end FPSO. If it were just a matter of "drag it back to port," then someone else would already have done so.

I think the Earth is pretty much claimed. Just make good friends with Elon Musk and stake your claim somewhere else in the solar system.

>>1138052
If he negotiates a trade deal with them with their own currency and they declare their independence from the us, sure.

>>1138067

To be honest. You are right on the rigs.

But finding shit at sea isn't all "it's left to drift so it's not worth it".

We had found a few vessels at sea that were truly good salvage.

The smallest was someone's pride Florida "just brought it in and can't moor it right" type vessel that we dragged it back and anchored up for him because he was a cool dude that we were drinking with the nigh before on the same vessel, one 180' tall ship that we ripped em for 30% as the were cunts (of course it went to court but the settled on that seeing as we found it 30 miles out 2 days after a hurricane) and one steel Seine vessel with a thai flag that were scrapping because no one came forward to contest it (if someone turned up now to claim it they'd have to settle minus the prop, engine, hydraulics, electronics and pay up storage fee)

Mind you this is over 20 years of bobbing around out in the blue so it is far from a profession.

>>1136848
Joke's on them. I'm declaring my offshore platform a Gun-Free Zone!

>>1136825

Nobody will ever recognize a country that is founded for no good reason

If you are just trying to be a smartass by larping as king of something, serious people in the UN or whoever else won't have it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_micronations
Fuck me this is a fun read.

Something something just build your own in international waters, not nick someone elses.

File: image001-724671.jpg (41KB, 423x477px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1138109
that'll work. :-)

>>1136825
You cant do that. You cant even build your own land and be recognized (pic related).
However if you got some kind of rare endagered species to take up residence on your artificial island you could get international protection and support. Like a screem-a-piller refuge or something.

File: spiral-artificial-island.jpg (60KB, 760x428px) Image search: [Google]

60KB, 760x428px

>>1139738
Pic

>>1137180
>However the UN has a law somewhere that only the list of already recognized countries can form a new country so no one will ever recognize as being such if that's your plan.

I don't think people will give a shit about the UN when Donald Trump will put the United States above it. The UN is nothing short of a disaster in many regards, it basically protects hostile countries and dictators like North Korea while snuffing out anyone who has a legitimate claim to statehood. It's also hilariously biased against countries like Israel since it's democratic and consist of a large number of Muslim third world countries. Biomedical research has consistently been stalled by international laws. They even stopped sea bed mining by imposing intense taxes on it to the extent of stomping it out before it became a thing. Basically, it caters to countries with strong military might as justification to do what they deem fit.

>>1137236

Best post.

LARPers really piss me off.

And it is 12nm, which is why Sealand is not a thing any more since it is now within that boundary (it used to be 3nm). That and their fake passports were used for money laundering. Now its just a couple of guys who go there for a couple da a year and play king of the castle.

Then there Liberland, whoch can no long be accessed by the LARP fags at all, and stopped being a thing when a million migrants started flowing though the Balkans on their way to Germany.

All land is claimed or disputed. Starting your own country is not going to happen in any way except your sad lonely imaginations.

>>1137285
Where a teen was killed last year or thereabouts.

>>1139738
>i heard some ngo pays us for the animals the boss brings to the animal conservation platform

>>1140880

I never saw any of that fucking money. What the hell, Miller?