In recent years, cruises have become an increasingly preferred vacation choice for many people. A luxury cruise development company in Florida, USA, has announced plans to build a gigantic cruise ship that is 1 mile long and can accommodate 80,000 people. The ship will feature residences, schools, hotels, parks, hospitals, and sports facilities, resembling a “floating city” that will travel around the world.
The development team stated that the massive cruise ship, named “Freedom Ship,” will have a length of approximately 1 mile, a width of 800 feet, a weight of 2.3 million tons (GT), and a height of about 30 stories high, making it a city where people can live on the sea for a long term.
Currently, there are only two never-ending cruise ships in the world: “The World,” known as a “privately-owned floating luxury residence,” and the relatively affordable “Villa Vie Odyssey.” However, their actual passenger capacity is only a few hundred people.
The “Freedom Ship” will accommodate 50,000 permanent residents, 10,000 short-term visitors, and 20,000 crew members and staff. The number of people it can carry will exceed eight times that of the world’s largest cruise ships, the “Star of the Seas” and the “Icon of the Seas.”
This massive cruise ship will be nuclear-powered, and the estimated construction cost is $15 billion, approximately 13.87 billion euros.
The concept of the “Freedom Ship” was first proposed in the late 1990s. Currently, the development is led by Freedom Cruise Line International Inc. based in Florida, and the design is being handled by Schopfer Associates.
The ship will include a stadium that can accommodate 15,000 people, two museums, a conference center, a symphony hall, and a water park. It will also feature a double-decker food court, shops, banks, and nightclubs. Diving enthusiasts can experience underwater activities in the aquarium, while children can attend educational programs from elementary school to university on campus.
The cruise ship will have two hotel towers and eight helicopter pads. Additionally, there will be a tram system, a 15-mile jogging track, and a 3-acre park.
The “Freedom Ship” will sail at a speed of 7 knots per hour, circling the earth approximately every two years. Due to its immense size, the ship cannot dock at any port and must sail in international waters for an extended period.
CEO Roger Gooch told The Telegraph that there is strong demand for the “Freedom Ship” in the market, with the potential to build three ships simultaneously. While the team is still raising funds, he expressed confidence in completing the entire project.
Once the funding is secured, the “Freedom Ship” will be built in Indonesia, with an estimated construction period of up to four years. There are plans to allow some residents to move in during the construction period. After setting sail, as the ship has no fixed port, all maintenance operations will be carried out at sea.
When officially launched, the “Freedom Ship” will become the largest sea vessel in human history.
This article draws reference from reports by Euronews and the Freedom Ship website.