The high seas are a lawless frontier where crimes such as murder, slavery and environmental destruction are often met with impunity and overlooked by the media. But the ocean is also a place of discovery and reinvention, offering freedom from the constraints of society.

A new 10-part short film series by The Outlaw Ocean Project stems from over a decade of reporting by our columnist Ian Urbina exploring crime on the high seas. The series chronicles a gritty cast of characters including traffickers and smugglers, pirates and mercenaries, shackled slaves and vigilante conservationists.

Over the next ten weeks, we will exclusively share all episodes of ‘Dispatches from the Outlaw Ocean’ as they come out.

Episode 3 – ‘Dreamers of a floating world’ – has come out out on Monday, 1st May. In this episode, Ian Urbina explores how the ocean has long been a metaphor for freedom – the ultimate escape from governments and other people.

This episode takes us off the coast of England aboard Sealand, a rogue micronation founded by a quixotic adventurer on an abandoned anti-aircraft platform in 1967. From its bowels we will explore the fantastical world of sea-bound libertarians and utopian architects: renegades seeking to evade the laws of the land by building new worlds in international water and visionaries who believe that the ocean can provide the ultimate solution to the survival of our species.

Watch Episode 3 here or on The Outlaw Ocean’s website: