A £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city has been unveiled. Called the Pangeos, the terayacht would become the largest floating structure ever built.
Italian design studio Lazzarini say the vessel is 550 metres long (1,800 ft) and 610 metres (2,000ft) at its widest point. Hosting 60,000 guests, the itinerant city comprises hotels, shopping centres, parks, as well as ship and aircraft ports.
Lazzarini hope their ambitious concept will be built following a NFT-related crowdfunding period. Construction would take eight years.
The designers suggest a giant shipyard would have to be created especially for the project. They say: "A Terayacht needs a Terashipyard: the conception of a similar sized vessel, involves the realisation of a specific shipyard/dam infrastructure that floods to levitate the terayacht when it will be launched.
"The imagined Terashipyard infrastructure is 650 metres wide and 600 metres long, providing direct access to the sea."
With 30 metres of draft, the Pangeos' gigantic hull is composed of nine different bows and subdivided into several blocks. It is powered by nine HTS (high temperature superconductor) engines; each fully electric motor capable of 16,800hp and powered by various onboard energy sources.
Lazzarini say: "Pushed from a jet drive transmission, the tera-structure will be able to cruise at a speed of five knots. While sailing, the large wings will gain energy from the breaking of the waves and Pangeos will cruise perpetually without emissions around the planet Earth seas.
"Further, the rooftop area is lined with solar panels, which provide part of the necessary clean energy to power the terayacht."
Lazzarini say they are launching a crowdfunding initiative to sell virtual spaces of the watercraft. Accommodation ranges from apartment and houses to 'super villas' and royal palaces.
They explain: "The virtual spaces of the watercraft can also be purchased under an NFT collection, and users will be able to collect certain content and access in the virtual properties with their credentials."
The same credentials will also work as a property deposit in case of a real construction. Lazzarini add: "The terayacht proposal takes its name from Pangea, the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras.
"If realised, the turtle-shaped vessel will become the world’s largest floating structure ever built."
