Which is why one design firm has gone all-out in its bid to attract the rich and famous, drawing up plans for a vessel based on the dimensions of an oil tanker.

Measuring 918ft in length and including a four-storey ski slope - complete with Austrian-themed Apres lodge - the mind-boggling boat is nearly double the length of the world's biggest superyacht, Azzam, owned by the Abu Dhabi royal family, which measures 590ft.

The bizarre design is the brainchild of an Austrian firm called MOTION Code: BLUE and is planned to appeal to billionaires in the Gulf, who may like to celebrate their oil-based wealth with a superyacht designed to look like a tanker.

In fact, the world's first tanker sized yacht is called Imāra, a name based on the Arabic word for 'emirate'. 

Billionaire sailors will be able to entertain guests across the 11 decks, store five helicopters on board, receive visitors arriving at the three helipads, and relax in the four-deck-high atrium, complete with waterfalls. 

Wet garages will store tender boats and toys including speedboats and jet skis so guests can entertain themselves without having to head to the beach.

As well as a hull painted white and gold, the enormous area can be explored using custom painted BMW 13 electric cars to zip passengers form one end of the boat to another. 

A Suezmax oil tanker can normally hold around one million barrels of oil and burn up to 60 tons of fuel on a daily basis to power them through the water. But filling the tank will be the least of this billionaire yacht-owner's worries.

On board there will be eight two-storey VIP suites, another 12 guest cabins, theatres, four beach clubs with access to the sea, concert halls, libraries and offices.

A seafront gym will offer the perfect view while working out, along with tennis courts, an enormous spa and a selection of restaurants and a shisha bar. 

But by far the most unusual centrepiece to the superyacht will be the four-storey ski slope, in case passengers tire of constant sunshine and beach clubs, complete with an Austrian-style lodge for apres-ski. 

(dailymail.co.uk)