The newest yacht to hit the superyacht market isn’t any regular yacht. It’s a giant turtle-shaped vessel named Pangeos after the ancient supercontinent that merged during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. At a massive 1,800 feet long and 2,000 feet at its widest point in the wings, it’s billed as the world’s largest boat. It would dwarf even the Somnio, currently the world’s largest yacht and a mere 728 feet in length. Pierpaolo Lazzarini, the designer behind the concept, has revealed he’s trying to raise $8 billion to actually build it.
The giant tera-turtle can sail around the world nonstop sans emissions thanks to a virtually endless supply of green energy. The steel hull comprises 30,000 individual “cells” that keep the ship afloat, while solar panels provide clean power to the hotel load and propulsion system. The outer wing surfaces can also gather power from the waves and wind. Nine electric motors delivering 16,800 horsepower drive the massive vessel at a cruising speed of five knots. The wing surfaces can also serve as air transport landing zones for various flying vehicles.
Unlike traditional yachts that typically offer space for only a few hundred people, the Pangeos yacht is designed to hold a whole city. It has a main entrance port area that leads to a central square from which buildings, apartments and tower blocks spiral outward. The’ship’s wing’ areas contain hotel resorts, shopping centers and parks, while the upper shell contains a zone for flying vehicles to land.
Lazzarini is selling virtual properties for the terayacht in the Metaverse through an NFT crowdfunding campaign called Unreal Estate. Buyers can purchase a range of credentials that offer access to virtual spaces on the vessel, from a regular passenger entrance ticket to a super villa. These credentials can be redeemed for physical property on the yacht should it ever get built, but construction timelines remain far into the future.
The terayacht can’t be made at any existing shipyards, meaning it will need to be built on its own, somewhere that has direct sea access. Lazzarini is pitching Saudi Arabia, specifically the King Abdullah district of Jeddah, as a good location for the project. The site would need to be dredged and surrounded by a circular dam before the ship could take shape, though.
If you’re interested in purchasing a virtual space on the vessel, you can do so through the Unreal Estate NFT platform until early 2023. The virtual tickets are priced between a regular passenger entry ticket ($16 or 0.01 ETH) and a super villa ($1,500 or 0.3 ETH). The same credentials will work as a property deposit on the real thing, should it ever get constructed. pangeos yacht