SAILING OASIS-TOWN

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  Current project presentation

INVENTOR-DESIGNER: CARLO MACRI’

During the last few years continuous, increasing demand for cruises has led the leading companies in this sector to commission ever larger and
more luxurious vessels from major shipyards all over the world.  It seems, therefore, that the time is now ripe for radical innovation set to exploit
this type of tourism and to move away from the cramped individual or group space available on traditional cruise ships.

The simple fact is that the kind of people who enjoy this type of maritime tourism, love the top quality hotel services, huge variety of travel routes
and entertainment offered by the best cruise companies, but are generally also only too aware that these large ships suffer from a lack of suitable
sports areas and that trying to spend some precious free time in a quiet spot or in the open air without constantly feeling, they are being cooped
up in overcrowded, noisy surroundings  either indoors or out, presents almost insurmountable difficulties.

My proposal is to built an innovative maritime sailing oasis-town.  While it will offer all the advantages of cruising in safety combined with private
access to  large areas such as those one can only find on land, it  is possibly the best way to overcome these drawbacks.

The project includes heliports and ample landing areas located on the top of the construction, as well as a full complement of easy to board,
roomy boats designed for planned coastal sightseeing trips along the town-ship’s route and for initial boarding and disembarkation during the
dream holiday cruise.  A further complement of especially equipped boats, would be used for fishing trips by avid anglers when the sailing island
anchors at specific designated places.

Naturally, this artificial traveling island, would be fairly big. Big enough indeed to do the job it is built for. Generally speaking, the model would be approximately 1,200 meters long and 600 meters wide, for about  500,000 square meters per storey. An area as large as this can only be made
by assembling as many hulls as can effectively be joined together while maintaining sufficient support and flexibility to form a safe base for the
upper parts of the structure.

The special shape of this sailing island would provide open spaces, unencumbered by hotel buildings, which could be used for hanging  gardens
or for sports facilities and promenade areas. They would also offer walkways for passengers’ movement as well as handle all the electrically
operated transport  connected with the on board services.

The large areas available for hotel lodgings would mean that these could vary in style and character to suit travelers’ varying requirements. Some
could take the form  of traditional, medium to top quality hotels whereas others could be developed as residences offering guests greater
freedom in how they use their spare time and in preparing their own meals. Luxury hotels with all the comforts offered by that class would complete
the range of lodgings.

The computerized images illustrate how the construction is divided into seven different levels or sections, each of which performs a different
function, described as follows:

1) Area below the waterline containing the engine apparatus for each hull, keel leveling regulators, special berth mechanisms and stabilizers
used while the island is at anchor.

2) Intermediate area between the upper part of the hulls and that below the waterline, generally speaking a storage area for different types of
goods and equipments, also housing the drinking water tanks, technical usage water cisterns, the air conditioning and technological systems,
electric power plants and various service rooms required for operating all on board activities smoothly.

3) Upper hull area, a critical area connecting the various hulls forming the island and rising approximately 13 meters of fully utilizable height 
extending over the whole building area. This section could carry areas for communal activities and facilities including theatres, cinemas, billiard
rooms, discos, pubs, casinos,  gyms, swimming pools and other covered sports facilities as well as administrative offices, libraries, meeting and
lecture rooms, beauty farms and thermal centers. Set apart from these would be the first aid rooms and medical center.

4) Hotel and commercial areas. This involves two similar levels, each one made up of six-storeys where the first deck is twice the height of each of
the other four, and is allocated to restaurant and breakfast area usage, tourist shops and boutiques and a general store to serve the needs of guests
who have opted for  residence style accommodation. The four upper storeys would constitute the  actual hotel section, housing different sized flats,
varying in size from 70 to 120 square meters.

5) The upper zone, above the previous area, includes two decks which are slightly higher than the above mentioned flats. Facing the sea, they house
double sized luxury apartments and /or diplomatic suites with a Jacuzzi or private swimming-pool and can be laid out on two levels according to
guests’ special requirements. The central rib of this section should contain either a) the various public swimming-pools with connected systems or
b) the service rooms for the upper sports facilities plants at the ends or c) entertainment areas with ethnic restaurants.

6) Area above the previous, for use as sports areas, i.e. tennis-courts, open air swimming-pools, jogging and walking-race tracks, volley-ball fields,
football field, basket-ball courts, golf course, etc. Some parts of this storey are taken up by huge refreshment areas complete with restrooms for use
by people using sports facilities or by those  enjoying walks along the broad promenades between the external parapets and the sport facilities. 
Numerous garden-seats could be located along the promenade so people can pause for a break or simply enjoy the view of the sea.

7) Airport zone with a central double landing strip wide enough for two medium-size airplanes to land or take off at the same time. The central runways
lanes connect at their ends with two additional  taxiways. Located centrally to these are two air terminals fully equipped with all the necessary radar
systems for air traffic control and navigation as well as all audiovisual communications equipments such as required by the oasis-town guests. There
are also large hangars for the sheltering, maintenance and provisioning of aircraft. The aforesaid runways are also linked to each other by two
latitudinal stretches which could be used as helicopters pads when the island is near the coast line.

This floating and navigating island should be self-sufficient for long periods in terms of supplies, electricity, drinking water production, fire-fighting equipment, onboard security which is entrusted to onboard police and external safety entrusted to escort ships and aircraft taken on board for this
purpose.  

The construction of the island will be a major financial undertaking. To protect this huge hotel complex itself, as well as the valuables that large 
numbers of tourists will be carrying on board, from maritime piracy and international terrorism, both of which are on the increase, an effective security system regarding sea, air and onboard protection will be required.  These could include a permanent escort of a minimum of four heavy military sonar-equipped tugs carrying anti-submarine helicopters and two frigates armed to repel attacks and unwelcome intrusions.  The island airport could
be supplied with a small squadron of fast interceptor fighters to prevent the approach and landing of unauthorized aircraft.

The sheer size of the fully constructed floating island will prevent any maintenance and repairs from being carried out in a normal wet dock. 
Consequently, these will have to be handled as following:

1) Each hull forming the island base should be built and joined to the other hulls such that it can be routinely disconnected and replaced with a
substitute hull should extensive damage occur due to fire or  explosion, or  in the case of external hulls, damage due to collision with other sea going vessels, etc. The technical aspects concerning the replacement of hulls will be detailed in the final project.

2) All the physical parts of the complex situated permanently below the water line will have undergone special, guaranteed, state of the art, long term anti-corrosion and anti-vegetative treatments aimed at reducing maintenance to a minimum;

3) Routine or special and urgent maintenance of machinery and submerged parts should be carried out by permanent maintenance staff, including
frogman teams operating from robot submarines so as to guarantee top working efficiency at all times.
 

It is estimated that the island’s tourist capacity in the different types of accommodation will be approximately 40,000 - 45,000 persons  whereas the
entire on board staff would number between  9,000 and 10,000 people.  These would include persons working in all the different commercial and professional areas.  To these should be added a further 1,000 military personnel assigned to escort ships and sea and air security.

The cost of accommodation for a seven-day cruise in one of the smaller (70 sq. meter), flats would start at approximately 2,000 Euro per person
and would rise to a maximum of  6,000 Euro in the most luxurious diplomatic suites.  The minimum cost for accommodation in the residence flats
which offer 4/5 beds and two bathrooms would be approximately to 5,000 Euro. These prices reflect the unique holiday setting, and mostly of the
wide range of sports facilities available, and excellent  entertainment programs.
 

ESTIMATIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS

The cost of constructing the described Great Island is estimated at approximately 8.5 Billions of Euro. 

In addition, a  further estimated 2.5 Billions of Euro would be required to cover the costs of the escort and defense craft as illustrated.  Final costs
will obviously depend, for a certain extent, on the choice of materials and finishes used in the interior furnishings and decor and external or submerged particular trimmings; I.E.: clearly golden taps would certainly be much more expensive than ones made of the best quality stainless steel.

a) The unusual height of the landing strips as compared to the underlying island body was projected for the following reasons : a) to afford maximum
light and air to the spots facilities zone,  b) buffer the noise due to  aircraft traffic, c) diminish the possibility of creating dangerous aerial turbulences
which could interfere with the regular flow of air traffic.

The wide internal avenues which run both ways across the island from end to end and from side to side between the various hotel buildings and the
large open-air inner garden squares (which can be closed with sliding glass windows positioned at the airport level in case of storms) increase air circulation and offer more light to flats located on the interior front, while the internal and external arches, apart from being attractive, minimize wind
tunnel effects and air turbulence.

As concerns the rules regulating life on board the floating-town, they will be similar to those at present in force on large cruise ships.

If, in certain circumstances it should be deemed necessary, a Collective Group representing the various categories of guests, entrepreneurs, staff
and management will be instituted to handle problems arising and to vote on decisions concerning problems of common interest.

Hypothetically, the island could present itself to the International Community as a new Independent Entity with own territory and laws and claim
complete autonomy as long as it is in international waters. In such a case, it would have to negotiate entry conditions with sovereign territories if 
and when it desired to enter their territorial waters.  Otherwise entry conditions could have been previoully regulated by international agreements.
The Citizens of this island, those having bought a flat on it, could choose to consider it their own legal domicile. They could enjoy double nationality
if the laws of country their origin permitted such.  

It is fairly obvious that, considering the very high costs such an enormous project will require in order for the immense sailing oasis-town to
become reality, large-scale financial resources will be necessary. 
Financial backing could be provided by some of the following Companies and initiatives:

1) -  a pool involving major cruise Companies;

2) - holding Companies who administrate gaming-houses and casinos;

3) – Large Hotel Chains which could use their prestigious logos and offer their top quality services in
some of the most luxurious departments;

4) -Capital Venture Companies interested in this type of initiative;

5) - contributions from numerous sponsors interested in selling and publicizing their products which could be components in the construction of
the island or, subsequently, involved in operating the different on board service;

6) - Major Shipyards which could be interested in participating in building this imposing project.  If they saw fit to become involved, they would
appreciate the advantage of guaranteed quality work for several years. In turn, they could locate additional financiers interested in participating
in this ambitious maritime enterprise;

7) - opening of a public capital share subscription by the Company which would become the owner of the fabulous dream-island and which would
offer stockholders the tempting incentive of a seven day cruise at very discounted prices no sooner was construction completed;

8) – further sources for financing could derive from selling a large number of future flats to people who  would buy them with the intention of living
on the futuristic isle for a set period of time.  Afterwards, if they decide to return to live on the mainland, they could easily resell their own real estate
property and re-acquire their invested capital.  In general terms, the cost of one of this flats should be similar to that currently estimated for a top
quality condominium in a popular tourist resort, or approximately 8,000 to 10,000 Euro per square meter, plus shared expenses;

9) – considering the increasing popularity of multi-owner property, it would not be untoward to take the opportunity to sell several flats in the 
residences using this particular temporary property formula.   This indeed, could be one of the best solutions.  In fact, this way, the requirement for
short periods of stay in the course of the year at a much lower cost than that of full ownership would be satisfied.
 

                                                                                                             CONCLUSIONS

For the present, I hope that my proposal for a great project will be appreciated for its huge potential for development in the field of cruise navigation
and for the opportunities it offers to be transformed into a considerable source of profit for far-sighted, entrepreneurial financers and owners.

Should this extraordinary project, with its innovative structure constituting a true challenge to the customary feelings of attraction, fear, defiance,
dread and love between the man and the sea, be undertaken, it will lead the way to a new kind of enjoyment of the sea. An enjoyment with greater
safety, far more space to move about in, the beauty, the greatness and all the advantages offered by this immense and precious natural element
that occupies about the 70% of our planet surface.  All this, obviously, shall be possible only for those who, economically, can afford it.

For myself, I am ready to meet, preferably in Italy, persons or Companies interested in the construction of the extraordinary sailing island I have 
designed, or in purchasing the project plans which are already well-advanced concerning the main structure. I can also supply more detailed
information concerning the hulls and how they function on 350/400 meter soundings during periods of rest.

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E-mail address:             artificial@inwind.it

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Last Updating: September, 2011

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