I’ve written previously about the limitations of mitigating the risks from nosy national governments by moving to an offshore “Data Haven” like HavenCo, located in/on Sealand.

What do you do when the place burns down?

A FORMER wartime fortress which is now a self-proclaimed independent state has been left devastated after a fierce blaze tore through the structure.

The so-called Principality of Sealand, seven miles off the coast of Felixstowe and Harwich, was evacuated at lunchtime yesterdayafter a generator caught fire.

Thames Coastguard, Harwich RNLI lifeboat, Felixstowe Coastguard rescue teams, firefighting tug Brightwell, the RAF rescue helicopter from Wattisham and 15 Suffolk based firefighters from the National Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) were all called into action to tackle the blaze.

What kind of country doesn’t have a fire department? One that doesn’t plan on having a fire, as evidenced by the fact that Sealand/HavenCo didn’t have fire insurance.

A downhearted Michael Bates, known as the “Prince of Sealand”, today revealed the fort was not insured to cover damage by fire, leaving his family with a massive repair bill.

He added the fort, which leases offices to IT firm HavenCo Ltd, faces a tough future because it has no insurance policy for the damage.

I find this all more than a little bit ironic, given that one of the classic “selling security” analogies is, “You’re not planning to have a fire, and yet you still have fire insurance.”

Sealand - more pictures…

Fearghas points to more graphical evidence of risk practices from the Lifeboat station in Harwich. For those bemused by this attention — a brief rundown of “Rough Towers,” a.k.a. Sealand. Some 5 or so years ago, libertarian / cypherpunk elements sta…

[…] Not wishing to enter into the discussion of whether this place was *MORE* risky or less risky … Chandler asks: What kind of country doesn’t have a fire department? One that doesn’t plan on having a fire, as evidenced by the fact that Sealand/HavenCo didn’t have fire insurance. […]

Hmmm…methinks the posting at that second link link looks suspiciously like the posting from FC…

It’s on-topic for the blog, but plagarism is not cool.

Sealand, where fake anarchists got it wrong…

Few days ago a fire destroyed Sealand, the independent state joke located on an abandoned anti-aircraft deck six miles off the British coast.

The silly utopia of a data haven burned with it. HavenCo, the Sealand company running the offshore hosting se…