Someone looked at the world’s largest cruise ships and decided they just weren’t ambitious enough. Plans are back on the table for the Freedom Ship, a proposed nuclear-powered floating city that would carry 80,000 people, circle the globe continuously, and be too large to dock anywhere on earth. Who’s in?
The concept has been floating around since engineer Norman Nixon first pitched it in the 1990s. Nixon died in 2012, and the project stalled, but Freedom Cruise Line CEO Roger Gooch has revived it with fresh renderings, a $16.16 billion price tag, and total capitalist conviction. “We feel very confident that we can put this together, but capitalization is key,” Gooch told The Telegraph.
Ahh, yes. The last part.
Someone Wants to Build a Nuclear-Powered Floating City for 80,000 People
For scale: Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, currently the world’s largest cruise ship, maxes out at around 9,950 people. The Freedom Ship would carry more than eight times that, with homes for roughly 50,000 residents, room for 10,000 tourists, and a crew of 20,000. The proposed vessel stretches a full mile long and would run on nuclear fuel, circling the globe every two to three years while passengers ferry back and forth to land via boat or one of its eight helipads.
The amenities list reads like someone was given zero budget constraints and told to keep going—the crazier the better. A 15,000-seat sports stadium, a water park, two museums, a music hall, a convention center, parks, schools, colleges, banks, nightclubs, a two-story food hall, and a full aquarium are all part of the pitch. A futuristic tram system would connect the different areas of the ship. “We started with the view that the ship should not be a monolithic piece but visually comfortable, so we softened all the edges,” Gooch said. “We also want it to breathe, so we’ve gone to great lengths to allow walkways and green spaces.”
The vision, according to Freedom Cruise International, is closer to a city than a vacation. “It is planned as a stable, self-contained urban environment that continuously circumnavigates the globe while supporting everyday life.” Gooch has even suggested early residents could move in while construction is still ongoing, which is one way to handle a four-year build timeline while still raking in the cash.
Funding remains the outstanding issue. It’s a $16 billion floating city that can’t dock anywhere. We’ll see who gets on board.
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