Jeff Bezos’ $500m Superyacht Stuck Behind Historic Bridge
Topics: Jeff Bezos, Travel, Money
Niamh Spence
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Jeff Bezos, Travel, Money
Don't you just hate it when your multi-million dollar fancy yacht gets stuck? Yeah, me too.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos is now facing a dilemma as his new $500 million super yacht is reportedly stuck in Rotterdam as it's too big to fit past a historic bridge.
Oceanco, the Dutch firm building the impressive 421ft Y721 sailing yacht, had originally planned to dismantle the bridge but changed its plans after a public backlash.
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Bezos had offered to pay for the middle section of the Koningshavenbrug bridge to be removed so that his monster 412ft sailing yacht – which is named Y721 – could reach the ocean from its shipyard.
The yacht is set to be the second-largest in the world and can't fit under the bridge without being altered. But the plans have now been cancelled by manufacturer Oceanco after the backlash it faced, according to Dutch news outlet Trouw.
The bridge dates back from 1878 and was last renovated in 2017. Due to its history, plans to dismantle it to allow billionaire Jeff's new super yacht to pass through were met with some controversy including protests and threats of egg-throwing.
Thousands signed a petition on Facebook promising to egg the yacht as it travelled through the city if the bridge was dismantled.
Pablo Strörmann, who organised the potential egg-throwing, wrote on Facebook: "Calling all Rotterdammers take a box of rotten eggs with you, and let’s throw them en masse at Jeff’s super yacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam."
Oceanco has confirmed to Rotterdam city officials that it will cancel the current plans for removing the bridge, and will look at other options. As of yet, there's been no confirmation on how Bezos will eventually get his super yacht out to sea.
It's not been a great run for Jeff Bezos recently. At the end of May, it was confirmed the billionaire's fortune has fallen by $53.2bn this year. The figures come from Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, which shows how well the world's richest people are doing at any one time, tracking the stock market to calculate their net worth.
He wasn't the only one losing out though, as Elon Musk and Bill Gates also lost money too. According to the site's latest list, the Tesla boss lost $46.4bn over the past few months alone, while Gates came off quite lightly in comparison, losing just $15.1bn in the same period.
Although, I think it's safe to say they still aren't doing too badly.
UNILAD has reached out to Oceanco for comment.
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