/biz/ - Business & Finance

Spoke to someone once who owned just a canal boat. Turns out that if you want to operate even a small boat in the developed world there are many many hidden restrictions; such as berthing costs to tie it up anywhere, fair use rules for most waterways and docks so you even if you could afford the fee you aren't allowed to park it in a useful spot indefinitely and have to move on after a month or so. Most boats can't just sit in water forever and need frequent maintenance of their hulls. Also turns out steel boxes sitting in water hold heat terribly and require constant active heating to not be miserable to live in.
If a yacht is a yacht-shaped hole in the water you throw money into, a cargo ship would be that even more so - especially if you're not even using it for its intended purpose which is just burning money you could be making. It'd be like buying a production line and then shutting it off because you want to use the conveyor belt as a dining table for you and a handful of mates. Boats can't be parked just anywhere along a coast, it'd NEED to be in a harbour for its own safety.