A very similar game was released in 2006 called The Ship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ship_(video_game)
You can even get it on steam today http://store.steampowered.com/app/2400/
You can even get it on steam today http://store.steampowered.com/app/2400/
edit: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10236...
This game is seriously awesome, yes the player count is low but you can find certain times where there's actually a full server.
You can get this game for dirt cheap from places like Amazon.com merchants and such... I payed only $0.01 plus shipping for my copy... Bought a bunch more for my friends so we can all LAN party at least...
$19.99 on Steam.