The day to day running costs of running an offshore station in this day and age would be far higher than back in the eighties. Fuel costs have risen fivefold, Transmitters would need to be more powerful as the bands are more crowded/noisy (more stations around, more electrical/computer noise, fewer clear frequencies) and finding people with the necessary skills who are willing to put up with the privations and hazards of weeks/months at sea for little/no money is going to be a lot harder.

And attracting listeners (especially to an AM station) when theres so many other stations out there (whatever we might think of them) and other ways to spend ones leisure time isint going to be easy.

Didnt the DTI bust some other ship "King David 2" or somesuch during the 1990's as well ? With the mast ending up on the Ross for RSL broadcasts ?