Living on a yacht is one thing, but making a home in one that's twice the size of Rome's Colosseum AND shaped like a turtle? Now, that is something else.
Despite how it sounds, it is not Elon Musk's next ambitious project. In fact, it's actually the brainchild of Italian design studio Lazzirini - who named the project Pangeos after Pangea, the supercontinent that existed on Earth during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras (around 195 million years ago).
According to The Independent, Pangeos' estimated size is expected to be around 550 meters long and 610 meters wide and is set to cost a whopping $8 billion.
MSN reports that Pangeos will be like a sprawling island - complete with hotels, shopping malls, clubs, parks, and even ports for planes and other ships. It's also set to have villas, terraces, and apartments for residential purposes - all on a superyacht shaped like a turtle! Not only this, but Pangeos will be able to host up to 60,000 guests on board.
Saudi Arabia is rumored to be the nation hosting construction if approved, which could start as early as 2033. All up, it's expected that construction could take eight years to complete.
To raise funds for the project, a crowdfunding initiative was set up, which allows members of the public to purchase anything from a virtual entrance ticket to a VIP apartment NFT.
The "Terayacht Project" site explains: "The Terayacht idea started in the 2009 while the designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini conceived a giga yacht structure capable to host an entire city. The project extend his length for 550 meters (1800 ft) and measures 610 (2000 ft) meters at his widest point.
"At the moment, Pangeos is just a concept, but it's starting to his way to become something more than a computer animation [sic]."
Pangeos itself - if and when it is built - is set to be the largest floating structure ever built, according to Architectural Digest. The only issue, then, is to find a space to moor it. While Saudi Arabia has been listed as a potential nation to host construction, the yacht will require a terashipyard that is about 200 miles wide and 180 miles long... something that actually doesn't exist yet, especially as it will require the dredging of about 0.4 square miles of the sea with a circular dam. Then, when the yacht is all complete, the dam is supposed to flood and launch Pangeos.
As for the turtle shape, Lazzarini says that - in straying from the standard V shape - it will help capture kinetic energy from the waves and allow the boat to cruise easily without any emissions.
You can also buy virtual space as a deposit, including apartments and homes. "An ambitious project needs ambitious guests!
"We believe a virtual space is the first step into a real development of the project, for this reason an Unreal Engine METAVERSE is now under construction. Spaces are available on sale through an NFT collection or a PayPal deposit. Pangeos is not existing (yet) but we can make it real."
Several people took to social media to give their opinion on the ship, with one person writing: "Projects like this are hard for me to even wrap my head around the amount of time labor materials and money something like this takes."
While another user questioned how the yacht would able to withstand a storm or extreme weather, adding in their comment: "It would be interesting to see how this vessel behaves in the middle of a big sea storm, even because it won't have the speed to run away from it."
What's your opinion on this ambitious build? Could you see yourself living on a superyacht in the middle of the sea, or would you rather stick to living on dry land? Let us know in the comments!
