Principality of Sealand launches disaster appeal fund

The former wartime fortress known as Sealand, once home to offshore station Radio Essex and now a self-proclaimed independent state, has launched a disaster appeal fund following a devastating fire on the 23rd June that forced the evacuation of the fort. The ‘Principality of Sealand’ lies six miles off the British coast between Felixstowe and Harwich.

In a recent press release, the Sealand government said:

"After nearly 40 years of completely independent economic, social, political, and geographic independence in the North Sea, the Principality in late June of 2006 suffered a devastating fire which has crippled its infrastructure significantly.

"In common with other island countries, our resources here are limited; the difficulties this disaster presents are compounded by the effects upon our population and industries.

"Knowing the loyalty shown by those across the globe who have supported the Principality, we have added a 'donation' option for persons who might wish to contribute to the reconstruction required. Preliminary estimates put the figure at approximately a million dollars. Any help which can be offered will be most appreciated by those of us who live here and those who hope some day to be able to visit and to share, however briefly, in our way of life."

A devastating fire rages on Sealand

Principality of Sealand major fire

At lunchtime on Friday the 23rd of June a fire broke out in the main power generation facility of the Principality of Sealand. The outbreak occurred at a time when most of the resident population were either on holiday or awaiting the scheduled service ferry; the security guard responsible for the power generation facility was airlifted to a nearby UK hospital and later released after treatment for smoke inhalation. He was uninjured. Other residents were accommodated in the UK until Sunday.

UK emergency facilities attended the Principality and our thanks to the UK RNLI, the Harwich Harbour Authority, the Coast Guard, and the UK Royal Air Force for their support. The fire, thanks to them, was extinguished some four hours after it began and damage was limited to about a third of the main administrative and communal facilities even though the main power generation facility was completely destroyed and will require rebuilding.

The cause of the fire is thought to be a faulty generator, but precise details concerning the origin of the blaze are still under study. Sabotage or terrorist activities have been ruled out at this stage.

Residents returned to the Principality on Sunday, 25 June, and were accompanied by Prince Regent Michael, Prince Royal James, and Prince Liam who surveyed the damage and outlined plans for the rebuilding and renovation of the Principality. Damage is estimated at SX$1 Million [GBP 500,000] and time of rebuilding is expected to exceed six months.

The loss of primary power at the outset of the fire caused emergency backup facilities to take over the service provision to Principality-based information services and users were subject to a loss of service of less than two minutes; all facilities relating to Principality information services companies are located in fireproof and blastproof facilities which are independent of the part of the Principality affected. Similarly, all national archives, records, and other State files were unaffected by the fire. Backup facilities are sufficient to serve the Principality indefinitely.

Cleaning up, assessment, and the beginning of the renovation due to fire damage began on Monday, 26 June; it is planned to begin reconstruction activities within the next four to six weeks, and since this will involve lifting destroyed equipment from the power generation facility and in general use of heavy maritime construction equipment and vessels for an extended period, a one-mile exclusion zone for general shipping was declared on the 26th June and is expected to remain in force for some months.

The Principality has established a Sealand Disaster Fund to receive donations; it may be accessed on the main pages of the government web site, www.sealandgov.org.

Further details from Bureau of Internal Affairs burint@sealandgov.org,
SEALAND, 1001 (c/o Sealand Post Bag, IP11 9SZ, UK).

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