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The yacht will be in the shape of a giant turtle |
At a time when world travel is recovering after the
pandemic-induced break, the announcement of a terayacht – a vessel bigger than
super, mega and gigayachts – may be the thing that attracts massive attention.
The design for the luxury boat Pangeos has just been revealed by designers
Lazzarini, and if plans come to fruition, this will be the largest and the most
magnificent boat in the world.
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There will be space for malls, apartment blocks and parks on the yacht |
The latest luxury boat to hit the market is Pangeos -- named after Pangea, a supercontinent that existed from 200 million to 335 million years ago. And if those seem like big numbers, wait until you hear how many dollars it'll take to construct it: $8 billion, according to designers Lazzarini.
Little wonder it's so expensive when this, if funded, will
become the largest floating structure ever built. Looking rather like a Bond
villain's lair, it'll sprawl 550 meters (1,800 feet) long, and 610 meters
(2,000 feet) wide.
A full-on "floating city" according to Lazzarini,
the yacht will have space for hotels, shopping malls, parks and even ports for
smaller ships and aircraft to get guests there in style. And style there will
be, given that it's shaped like a tera-turtle.
It'd take a special place to build it, too -- one that
doesn't currently exist. The designers have posited Saudi Arabia as a location.
Around one square kilometer of sea would need to be dredged and a circular dam
constructed before the build could commence. The designers have earmarked a
space at King Abdullah Port, 81 miles north of Jeddah as the ideal location.
Divided into blocks like an actual city, Pangeos has a port
and main square, off which other buildings spiral. An "upper shell"
area, surrounded by garden spaces, would act as a landing spot for aircraft.
Below the living space would be 30,000 "cells"
which would keep the structure afloat. The basement would be made of steel.
It'd have a massive 30 meters, or 98 feet, of draft, and be able to cruise at a
speed of five knots -- although the "wings" would draw energy from
the drag and waves breaking against the ship. The roof would have solar panels
to power the yacht.
Rather than operating out of a particular port or having a
set itinerary, the tera-turtle would simply cruise around, making the journey
the destination. Again, perfect for a Bond villain.
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Solar panels would provide power while there'd be a rooftop landing space for aircraft |
Lazzarini hopes that construction could start in 2033, with a build time of eight years. Want to see it on the water? There's a crowdfunding initiative which allows you to buy anything from a virtual entrance ticket ($16) to a VIP apartment ($169) via NFT. That's for a virtual apartment, of course -- but if you want to buy a real one, you can put that money towards a deposit for the real thing.
However, the boat is just an idea at the moment – just a
design. It needs space to be constructed, and places in Saudi Arabia, close to
Jeddah, are being proposed as the ideal location to build this terayacht. This
is not all – the floating city will also cost about USD 8 billion (INR 65,280
crores approx) to be built.