Ocean colonization (also blue colonization or ocean grabbing) is the exploitation, settlement or territorial claim of the ocean and the oceanic crust.
Ocean colonization has been identified critically as a form of colonization and colonialism, particularly in the light of growing exploitive and destructive blue economy ocean development, such as deep sea mining, calls for blue justice have been made.
Ocean colonization as ocean settlement, or seasteading, being the extending of human settlement to the ocean, has been identified as settler colonial "tech-colonialism" at sea. Such settlements have been suggested to be established with floating accommodation platforms, such as very large cruise ships or artificial islands, establishing seasteads, or with underwater habitats, employing offshore construction, with arguments for floating structures, as they are generally less impacted by natural disasters. Ocean settlement with the construction of artificial structures in aquatic environments though can also be disruptive to natural marine ecosystems.
Territorial claims are another and continuing international issue, with sovereign states advancing claims through developing and claiming uncontrolled islands, such as in the South China Sea and ocean settlements possibly establishing sovereign states.
Ocean colonization has been advocated for and compared to space colonization, particularly as a proving ground for the latter. In particular, the issue of sovereignty may bear many similarities between ocean and space colonization; adjustments to social life in harsh circumstances would apply similarly to the ocean and to space; and many technologies may have uses in both environments.
Law The law of the sea internationally negotiated in the latter half of the 20th century states that the ocean is the "common heritage of humanity". From this the need for an international regulation regime has been identified and negotiated for. As the ocean was seen as a technologically optimistic futurist reservoir for economic growth, a model of internationally shared exploitation through a body called the "Enterprise" clashed with private commercial exploitation perspectives.
In addition to this economic dimension, environmental protection considerations have produced calls for rights of nature for the ocean.
Construction technologies
Underwater
Underwater habitats are examples of underwater structures.
Submerged structures are sunken, air-tight vessels that either sit at an intermediate position or attached to the ocean floor that create an underwater metropolis for residences and businesses.
Ocean Spiral City is a US$26 billion Japanese project, with research and design under way to potentially house 5,000 people; this may be a reality by 2030.
Offshore
Offshore construction, in which humans live over oceans in locations open to the atmosphere, is an intensive area of focus compared to underwater habitats due to much lower costs and greater safety.
Land reclamation Land reclamation is the process of relocating rock or placing cement in a sea, ocean or river bed, to extend or create a new area of livable land in the ocean. This process involves creating a solid base on the sea floor and further building upon it with materials such as clay, sand and soil to form a new island-like structure above the water surface. It therefore expands the area for potential development, supporting the erection of buildings or other necessary urban developments in response to support human activities, by utilizing this otherwise untouched space for more "productive" uses. This ocean colonization technique is the most developed in terms of planning and implementation.
Examples
Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jumeirah is the main of three artificial islands in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to be developed. The name is due to its resemblance to a palm tree when viewed aerially, and is both culturally and symbolically relevant to the coastal city. This land reclamation project began in 2001 and involved the movement of 94 million cubic metres of sand and 5.5 million cubic metres of rock offshore in the Persian Gulf, to allow the development of luxury beachfront villas for both residential and commercial purposes.
Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport located in Osaka Bay, Japan was created in 1987, due to overcrowding at the nearby Osaka Airport. Developers suggested Japan's mountainous terrain is not conducive to the development of the flat space required for an airport, and thus developed an artificial island in the bay, with a connecting bridge to support both travel and freight arrivals and departures.
Portier Cove Portier Cove is an ecodistrict extended off the coast of Monaco and designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the area. The 125 m-long extension project restarted in 2011 and plans to provide a hectare of space for retail, parks, offices, apartments and private villas, to support the nation's growing population.
Floating structures
Very large floating structures (VLFS) or seasteads are platforms on pontoons, designed to float on the surface of the ocean or sea to house permanent residents. They have a large surface area and are designed not to be bound to a certain government but rather to form their own communities through clusters of floating structures. This type of technology has only been theorized and is yet to be developed, however, a variety of companies have investment project plans underway.
Proposed designs
Seasteading Seasteading refers to building buoyant, permanent structures built to float on the ocean's surface to support human settlements and colonies.
The idea, developed by Friedman and Gramlich who founded The Seasteading Institute, is now defined in the Oxford English Dictionary. The pair received $500k in funding from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, to begin designing and constructing their idea in 2008.
Oceanix City Architecture company BIG proposed a design called Oceanix City, involving a series of inhabitable floating villages clustered together to form an archipelago that could house 10,000 residents. The design was developed in response to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and an increase in hurricanes in Polynesia, that threaten to eradicate many tropical island nations. The design also outlines its intention to incorporate predominantly renewable energy sources such as wind and water.
Cruise ships The idea of cruise ships as part of the theory of ocean colonization surpasses the typical modern-day cruise ships. This technology imagines a large-scale vessel, supporting permanent residence on board that can freely move about the world's oceans and seas. These ships would include residential, retail, sport, commercial and entertainment areas on board.
Freedom Ship The Freedom Ship concept by US engineer Norman Nixon would be a 4000 ft long vessel with the capability to house 60,000 residents and 15,000 personnel, with an estimated cost of $10 billion.
MS The World
MS The World debuted in 2015, sitting at long, and is presently the largest residential cruise ship in the world. This vessel is the closest existing ship to the Freedom Ship design and hopes to support permanent life on board. Permanent residency on the ship costs between $3 and 15 million per room.
Ocean robots Ocean robots are unmanned vehicles used in marine science to collect data and conduct exploration.
Autonomous underwater vehicles Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) can drift, drive, or glide through the ocean without human control. They often communicate using satellite signals or underwater acoustic beacons, transmitting collected data to scientists in near real-time. Some AUVs are equipped with environmental sensors and can autonomously adjust their missions based on the data they gather.
Long-range AUVs Long-range AUVs (LRAUVs) enable rapid-response research in remote ocean regions. For example, a LRAUV developed by WHOI's Scibotics Lab in collaboration with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute can follow a preprogrammed route within an 1,800-kilometer radius. It can operate under ice at depths of up to 300 meters for weeks, detecting chemical anomalies and capturing images, which it sends back to land via acoustic signals, ocean buoys, and satellites.
Gliders Gliders are low-power, winged AUVs that move by altering their buoyancy and glide angle, diving and surfacing in a vertical pattern. As they travel through the water column, gliders collect oceanographic data such as salinity and temperature. Some gliders are also capable of detecting phytoplankton, whales, and sound-producing fish like cod. Designed for long-term missions, gliders can operate for up to six months and periodically surface to transmit data via satellite.
Remotely operated vehicles Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are controlled by scientists aboard a ship and are connected via long tethers, usually reinforced fiber-optic cables. These vehicles receive power and commands from the surface and send back real-time data and video imagery. Advanced ROVs like Jason are equipped with sonar, imaging systems, lights, and sampling tools such as robotic arms to collect rocks, sediments, and marine organisms. They typically operate for a few hours but can also support multi-day missions.
Hybrid ROVs Hybrid ROVs (HROVs) combine the capabilities of AUVs and ROVs. Vehicles like Nereid Under Ice or Mesobot can operate autonomously or remain tethered, offering researchers flexibility in deployment and mission design depending on the environment and scientific needs.
Possible impact
Environmental
Climate change
It is predicted that by 2100, sea levels will have risen by 1–3 metres as a result of global warming, and by 2050 sea level rise is estimated to impact 90% of the world's coastal cities. Theorists who support ocean colonization hope to face the issue and provide a solution for groups and nations worldwide that are most at risk.
For example, Polynesian island nations such as Tuvalu with a population of 10,000 are expected to be fully submerged by water in approximately 30–50 years.
Entrepreneurs who have devised these technologies to support the colonization of the seas suggest their design will have an overall minimal carbon footprint.
Recycled and environmentally-friendly materials such as recycled plastics and locally sourced coconut fibres will constitute a large proportion of building materials required for construction.
To minimize the use of polluting energy sources that contribute to global warming, designers suggest using predominantly renewable energy from sources such as water, wind, and solar power. Designers also intend to utilize bicycles, electric and hydrogen vehicles as the primary transport systems on board to prevent extra CO2 emissions. Ultimately, project designers, entrepreneurs, and scientists are aiming to collaborate to create a structure allowing "the formation of an eco-sustainable production and consumption cycle in the future human habitat".
The primary group impacted by the effects of climate change, Pacific island nations, are the target demographic identified for ocean colony projects to which they are still able to remain in their familiar and culturally significant island environment. In 2017, French Polynesia signed an agreement with the Seasteading Institute to utilize their land for testing of the world's first floating town.
Green Float is another example of a project hoping to develop a carbon negative city within the Equatorial Pacific Ocean, with it set to house 100,000 locals by joining multiple floating modules. They hypothesize a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions through more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient modes of transport and power
Protection from natural disasters