Saudi Arabia Will Someday Build a Giant Turtle City Worth $8 Billion: Is It as Large as Pangaea?

As additional borders open due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the debut of a terayacht-a vessel bigger than super, mega, and gigayachts-could very well become the major draw for international travel.

According to a report by LifestyleAsia, Pierpaolo Lazzarini recently announced the concept for the opulent yacht Pangeos, which, if all goes as planned, would be the biggest and most spectacular boat in the world.

(Photo: -/AFP via Getty Images)
An aerial picture shows cars at a roundabout planted with shrubs and palm trees in the Saudi capital Riyadh on March 29, 2021. - Although the OPEC kingpin seems an unlikely champion of clean energy, the "Saudi Green Initiative" aims to reduce emissions by generating half of its energy from renewables by 2030.

Saudi Arabia to Make Pangaea-Inspired Yacht

The name "Pangeos" comes from the supercontinent Pangea (or Pangaea), which existed hundreds of millions of years ago. TradeArabia said Saudi's Pangeos would dwarf even the largest of the current generation of mega yachts with a maximum width of 610 m (2,000 ft) and a length of 550 m (about 1,800 ft).

A turtle-shaped foundation and an oval structure with enough for 60,000 people would be on top of the steel hull. It would include everything needed to maintain a village on the water, including hotels, retail centers, parks, airports for ships and aircraft, luxurious residences, and clubs. The roof would also have solar panels to power the yacht, while the "wings" would draw energy from the waves.

According to CNN, experts would need to dredge one kilometer of the sea and that they would need to build a circular dam before building this giant turtle floating city. In addition, it will be located near King Abdullah Port. It is 81 north of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Nine massive, cutting-edge HTS (high-temperature superconducting) motors, each electric and able to produce 16,800 horsepower, would be installed aboard the Pangeos, allowing it to cruise at 5 knots (5.75 mph).

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Renewable Energy to Run Pangeos

Solar panels, electricity produced by the city's enormous flipper-like structures, and some form of wave energy generating system would all be used to power the floating metropolis, enabling it to move indefinitely.

Lazzarini also isn't having fun at the expense of the huge metropolis. The project would get an estimated $8 billion in funding, and a crowdfunding campaign would shortly start. Rewards like virtual tickets and NFTs will be given to those participating in the financing round.

The designer (per New Atlas) also mentions a "Terashipyard" as being necessary for a Terayacht, with Saudi Arabia being recommended as the ideal place to recover a square kilometer (0.3 sq mile) of land from the water and construct a new shipyard.

The enormous building is still drawn out on a plan. Only time will tell if this grandiose floating metropolis ever sails in the middle of the ocean.