The Pangeos

Saudi Arabia may soon be home to a USD 5 billion turtle-shaped terayatch. The projected floating city of Pangeos was created by the Italian design firm Lazzarini and is intended to travel the globe. If constructed, it would be the largest structure of its kind and have a capacity of 60,000 people at once.

Its founder, Pierpaolo Lazzarini, described it as a floating metropolis for extremely wealthy people that would include all the amenities one would typically find on land, such as parks, shopping malls, resorts, beach clubs, as well as ports for smaller ships and airplanes.

"The terayacht proposal takes its name from Pangea, the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras," Lazzarini said in a news release. "Translating this into a somewhat futuristic expression, Pangeos extends its length for 550 metres (1,800 ft) and measures 610 metres (2,000 ft) at its widest point — the wings.”

The enormous terayatch, which was fashioned like a turtle, would surpass all previous records for size as well as hold the title of largest floating structure on Earth.

Nine separate bows, which are further subdivided into many blocks, will make up the ship's hull. Lazzarini said that a huge gate aft would also permit other ships to enter and exit the floating structure.

"The hull is subdivided in about 30,000 cells. This space [will] provide an unsinkable floating solution for the basement, which is composed by cluster compartments and connected by corridors," said the designer.

What is the turtle's top speed? Pangeos would travel at a maximal speed of 5 knots (9.2 km/h), propelled by nine high-temperature superconductor (HTS) engines, each with a 16,800 HP capacity. It would also be powered by ocean waves and rooftop solar panels.