Former Olympic athlete's massive yacht shocks onlookers as it's transported to completion facility: 'Where the pirates at?'

Superyachts cost millions and emit tons of carbon every year, and yet, people continue to build them for the pleasure of the ultra-rich. 

"Someone's brand-new super yacht heading to Louisiana," one Redditor wrote as a caption to pictures of a gigantic ship at large.

"Looks like a floating turd," one Reddit user commented. "Where the pirates at?" another wondered.

According to a member of the r/pics subreddit, that "floating turd" appears to be the 85-meter (279-foot) motor yacht "Gigia." Built in 2017, the vessel can welcome 28 crew members and 18 guests — yes, just that — and was delivered by German shipyard Lurssen.

"The owner, a former Olympic cyclist, wanted a yacht where he would be able to comfortably accommodate his family and team mates, instead of using airbeds and sofabeds which he resorted to on his other vessels," review website YachtBuyer explains. "He additionally wanted privacy for him and his family and a place to store his road bikes."

Between "his other vessels" and "a place to store his road bikes," it's hard to say what the oddest part of this description is.

One thing is sure — yachts have a disastrous environmental footprint. In 2021, the Conversation said that a superyacht with a permanent crew, helicopter pad, submarines, and pools was emitting some 7,020 tons of carbon dioxide a year.

In a previous opinion piece for the Guardian, Professor Chris Armstrong went further, saying that owning a megayacht, which is at least 70 meters (230 feet) in length, was "the most polluting activity a single person can possibly engage in."

"Abramovich's yachts emit more than 22,000 tonnes of carbon every year, which is more than some small countries," he added in reference to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who Forbes reported to own 16 yachts and vessels in 2023.

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"The bulk of these emissions happen whether or not a yacht actually travels anywhere," Armstrong said. "Simply owning one — or indeed building one — is an act of enormous climate vandalism."

And so, initiatives to help yacht owners switch to cleaner fuels or tap into more sustainable construction cannot undermine the urgency for the elite few to change their consumption patterns and adopt a more sober, simpler way of living.

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