FreeFleet Project

From Verticality to Horizontality: A Below Deck Uprising


FreeFleet is a nomadic and egalitarian living system for below deck crew in cruise ships against labor exploitations caused by the flag of inconvenience. The cruise industry is one of the biggest offshore businesses designed to avoid income tax and labor laws benefiting from the Flag of Right Declaration. Hence, many tax haven countries such as The Bahamas Maritime Authority do not enforce a fixed minimum wage or detailed regulations for working conditions unlike the first world countries. 


Freefleet Project is a horizontal constellation of vessels with different flags owned and used by the below deck crew that becomes an offshore jurisdiction from the cruise ship itself. In order to prevent the visible social stratification through verticality of  the cruise ship decks, each type of vessel operates under different flag states in order to benefit different regulations for different programs.

 
#transnational #cruiseshipindustry #offshore

economy #offshoreonoffshore #constellationofvessels

#flagofinconvience #taxhaven

#belowdeckcrew #ILO #laborwages #jurisdictions

#RoyalCarribbean #OasisoftheSeas

The vessels are attached to the surface of the cruiseship by a scaffold structure in the working hours, and are detached from structure in order to operate in the flag of their units in the international waters. Vessel types are arranged through different programs, forms and flag state in order to benefit from their jurisdictions. For example, the accommodation vessels are under the UK flag since the UK has the best standards such as room sizes, minimum fixed wages  for the maritime workers, whereas daycare vessels have the US flag, since their maritime healthcare system is superior. Different vessels can also combine together in order to create different programs such as night schools for the workers, oceaning cleaning system or an event space for the whole below deck crew for solidarity.

FreeFleet is a non-profit NGO for below deck crew in Allure of the Seas cruise ship to provide suitable living and working conditions by engaging the most advantageous jurisdictions of different nationalities in the presence of alternative flag states. Constellation of various governmental constitutions of vessels proposes an alternative dynamic living system for operating interdependently than the cruise ship itself. Therefore, FreeFleet challenges the systems of power, nationality at born and privilege that Flag of Convenience provide for major cruise ship companies to substandized the labour working hours and conditions on developing country citizens. 

Autonomous Wings