jeff bezos yacht rotterdam

Ruim baan voor boot van Bezos: Rotterdamse brug moet wijken

Amazon-oprichter Jeff Bezos laat momenteel een luxejacht bouwen door de Nederlandse scheepsbouwer Oceanco. Het wordt zo'n enorm gevaarte dat het niet onder de Rotterdamse Koningshavenbrug door kan. Daarom wordt die brug tijdelijk gedemonteerd.

Het middenstuk van de brug, die ook wel bekendstaat onder de naam De Hef, wordt aankomende zomer tijdelijk tussen de dragers uitgehaald. Dat bevestigt woordvoerster Frances van Heijst van de gemeente Rotterdam na berichtgeving van regionale zender Rijnmond.

Enorm zeiljacht

"De gemeente Rotterdam heeft hiervoor een verzoek gekregen vanuit de maritieme sector", zegt Van Heijst. "Het schip van de regionale scheepsbouwer kan namelijk overal onderdoor omdat de bruggen die het schip moet passeren open kunnen, behalve De Hef."

Die regionale scheepsbouwer is Oceanco, schrijft Rijnmond, dat enkel superjachten bouwt van meer dan 80 meter. De driemaster voor Bezos die ze bouwen onder modelnaam Y721, wordt met 127 meter een van de grootste zeiljachten ter wereld.

De gemeente Rotterdam wil desgevraagd niet bevestigen dat het om Oceanco gaat. De scheepsbouwer zelf reageerde niet op verzoeken voor commentaar.

In de video hieronder zie je het superjacht afgelopen oktober, op de werf in Zwijndrecht

De hagelnieuwe Oceanco Y721

Buiten de lengte van het schip en het modelnummer is er nog maar weinig over het paradepaardje bekend, ook de precieze hoogte van de masten niet. Ter vergelijking: de Black Pearl, een superzeiljacht dat in 2018 door Oceanco werd opgeleverd, heeft masten van 70 meter hoog.

Met zulke masten zal het schip niet onder de Koningshavenbrug doorpassen, omdat die een vaarhoogte van 46,5 meter heeft. Vandaar ook het verzoek van de scheepsbouwer aan de gemeente. "We hebben daar serieus naar gekeken en de belangen goed afgewogen", stelt de woordvoerder. "Aan de ene kant het economische belang en de werkgelegenheid door de bouw van dit schip. Aan de andere kant onze zorg voor De Hef."

Geen loslippige schepenbouwer

Uiteindelijk heeft de gemeente besloten in te stemmen met het verzoek, zegt ze. "De kosten hiervoor zijn voor rekening van de scheepsbouwer." Precieze bedragen kan ze niet noemen. De scheepsbouwer zal de rekening ongetwijfeld doorsturen naar Jeff Bezos, volgens Bloomberg opdrachtgever voor de bouw. Met een geschat vermogen van zo'n 200 miljard dollar zal de Amazon-oprichter hier vermoedelijk niet echt nerveus van worden.

Overigens houdt Oceanco vooralsnog stijf de lippen op elkaar over de opdrachtgever van het superjacht-in-aanbouw. "Het is ons beleid om nooit iets te zeggen over onze klanten vanwege hun privacy", zei een woordvoerder eerder al tegen RTL Z.

Jeff Bezos laat luxejacht bouwen door Nederlands bedrijf

De Hef is een Rijksmonument en werd in 2014 ook al eens gedemonteerd om gerenoveerd te worden. Dat kostte de gemeente toen zo'n 7,8 miljoen euro, maar daarvoor werd het hele middengedeelte ook geverfd.

Bij die renovatie zegde de gemeente nog toe dat het de laatste keer zou zijn dat de brug uit elkaar ging. Het bericht dat dit alsnog een keer staat te gebeuren, zorgt dan ook voor gemengde reacties op Twitter.

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Week of twee

Hoe lang het precies duurt om de brug zo ver te demonteren dat het superjacht erdoor kan, is nog onduidelijk. "Op dit moment wordt het plan verder uitgewerkt en wordt er een planning gemaakt", zegt de woordvoerder. 

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Rotterdam to partly dismantle historic bridge for Jeff Bezos’s superyacht

Central section of Koningshaven Bridge to be removed to make way for Amazon founder’s $485m superyacht

A historic steel bridge in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam is to be partly dismantled to allow a superyacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to pass, local authorities have announced.

Bezos’s gigantic, 430-million-euro ($485m) yacht is too big for the iconic Koningshaven Bridge, which dates from 1878 and was rebuilt after being bombed by the Nazis in 1940 during the second world war.

The shipyard building the three-masted mammoth in Alblasserdam, near Rotterdam, has asked the local council to remove the bridge’s central section so it can pass through.

“It’s the only route to the sea,” a spokesperson for the mayor of Rotterdam told AFP, adding that the Amazon owner would foot the bill for the operation.

The decision has angered some in the Netherlands as the local council promised after a major renovation in 2017 that it would never again dismantle the bridge, known to Rotterdammers as De Hef.

The mayor’s office emphasised the economic benefits and jobs created by the construction of the boat, but promised that the bridge would be rebuilt in its current form.

The middle section of the huge steel-girdered bridge will be removed to give enough clearance for the 40-metre (130-foot) high boat, Dutch media reported.

The process will take a few weeks and is expected to happen this summer.

Bezos, 57, is one of the world’s richest men after transforming online bookseller Amazon into a global shopping giant.

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Rotterdam May Dismantle Part of Bridge for Jeff Bezos’ Superyacht

The Dutch city of Rotterdam walked back earlier comments that the historic Koningshaven Bridge would be briefly dismantled. On Thursday, officials said a decision had not yet been made.

By Jenny Gross

The Dutch city of Rotterdam on Thursday walked back plans to dismantle part of the historic Koningshaven Bridge so that a superyacht built for Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, could pass through the city’s river, saying that a decision had not yet been made.

This week, city officials had told the news media that Rotterdam had agreed to briefly dismantle the middle section of the 95-year-old bridge for the yacht’s passage this summer.

But on Thursday evening, officials said in another statement that the city had not yet approved the plan, though it had received a request from the shipbuilder to temporarily lift the middle part of bridge.

The city’s statement said the full cost of the dismantling, if approved, would be covered by the shipbuilder. The bridge, known locally as “De Hef,” would be restored immediately afterward.

A city spokeswoman had said that she did not have an estimate of how much the deconstruction would cost. The city statement said that officials would assess the environmental and economic effects of the plans.

A representative for Amazon did not respond to requests for comment about the cost or the yacht’s destination. A spokeswoman for Oceanco, the Dutch custom yacht company that is building the boat, said in an email that she could not comment on projects under construction or clients because of confidentiality reasons.

The city of Rotterdam’s decision to remove part of the bridge was reported on Wednesday by a regional Dutch public broadcaster, Rijnmond . Boat International, which publishes articles about the superyacht industry, reported that the 417-foot sailboat is set to become the largest sailing yacht in the world when it is finished later this year, surpassing the Sea Cloud , a 360-foot sailboat built in 1931 and owned by the Yacht Portfolio, an investment company based in Malta.

The superyacht Mr. Bezos commissioned is likely to cost more than $500 million to build, Bloomberg reported . Mr. Bezos is the world’s second-richest person , after Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk.

The bridge, which has a boat clearance of 130 feet, is not currently in use. A Rotterdam tour guide, Eddy le Couvreur, said that the bridge, designed by the Dutch architect Pieter Joosting and a fixture in the Rotterdam skyline, was once used for railway traffic. A vertical lift bridge, it was the first of its kind in the Netherlands, and was copied from similar bridges in the United States. The modern industrial aesthetics of the bridge inspired a short film in 1928, he said.

Until now, tall ships passed under the bridge before assembling their masts and taller structures, he said.

Dennis Tak, a Labor Party city councilor for Rotterdam, said he was fine with the bridge being dismantled — since the city would not be paying for it — because of the jobs the process would create. “As a city, this is a great way to take some of his money,” Mr. Tak said.

The structure is more than a bridge to the people of Rotterdam, said Siebe Thissen, the author of the book “The Boy Who Jumped From the Bridge,” about a working-class man who jumped from the bridge in 1933. “It’s a monument,” he said. “It’s the identity of Rotterdam.”

When city officials tried to take the bridge down in the 1990s since it was no longer in use, there were major protests, he said, calling the bridge a reminder of “the old days” in Rotterdam.

“I think that’s why there is so much turmoil about Jeff Bezos and his boat,” he said, before referring to accusations against Amazon . “People say, ‘Why this guy?’ It’s a working-class town, and they all know that Jeff Bezos, of course, he exploits his workers, so people say, ‘Why should this guy be able to demolish the bridge for his boat?’”

As of Thursday, more than 600 Facebook users said they would attend an event, titled “Throwing eggs at superyacht Jeff Bezos,” where they plan to gather by the bridge to throw eggs at the boat. “Rotterdammers are proud of their city and don’t tear down iconic buildings just because you are super rich,” said Pablo Strörmann, the event organizer, who said he started the Facebook group “mostly” as a joke.

Mr. le Couvreur, who works for the company Tours by Locals, which connects tourists with local guides, said that Rotterdammers would likely enjoy the international attention that the spectacle had brought, he said. “On the other hand, it shows the unimaginable wealth that people like Bezos have created for themselves, that nothing can stand in the way for them living out their dreams and hobbies,” he said, adding that the outlook was “worlds apart from those who will be watching the ship pass through the city.”

Claire Moses contributed reporting.

Jenny Gross is a general assignment reporter. Before joining The Times, she covered British politics for the The Wall Street Journal. More about Jenny Gross

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It’s Official: Rotterdam Will Not Dismantle Historic Bridge for Jeff Bezos’s Superyacht

By Katherine McLaughlin

Five months ago when it was announced that Jeff Bezos had plans to dismantle a historic bridge in Rotterdam so his half-a-billion-dollar superyacht could make it out of the Koningshaven channel, frustrated residents from the Dutch city came up with a plan of their own: Throw rotten eggs at the Amazon founder and his watercraft. 

Last week, according to a report in The New York Times , it became apparent that neither proposition will come to fruition. The company responsible for building the ship, Oceanco, reportedly told the Rotterdam City Council that it will not be requesting a permit to temporarily take apart the Koningshaven Bridge, known locally as De Hef, or “the lift” in Dutch. It was unclear how, or if, the massive yacht will make it out of the port city. 

For the vessel to pass through, the central lift span would need to be removed, which would take about a day according to city officials. 

Bezos hired Oceanco to build the custom vessel, but its three large masts are too tall to safely pass under the bridge. In order to get the boat into the open ocean, the company toyed with the idea of dismantling only the middle part, then putting it back together. Though it was never a done deal (Rotterdam officials briefly confirmed they would allow the bridge’s deconstruction, then quickly retracted the statement saying the decision was still up in the air), when word first spread that the bridge could’ve been taken apart, the sheer possibility was enough to cause public outcry. 

Lift bridge decks can accommodate heavier materials, and, as such, are popular options for railways. 

De Hef, finished in 1927, is a vertical lift bridge designed by architect Pieter Joosting. Originally part of the Breda-Rotterdam Railway, the bridge was saved from demolition even after the railway suspended use in 1993. De Hef has a long history with the city, and was the first of its kind built in Western Europe. It was also the first structure restored after the bombing of Rotterdam in 1940 during World War II. Though it has been dismantled in the past—most recently in 2014 for repairs—at least for now, it will stay put. 

By Nicolas Milon

By Joyce Chen

By Leonie Rolinck

Rotterdam Now Won't Dismantle a Historic Bridge for Jeff Bezos's Superyacht

The Amazon founder's new sailing yacht is too tall to pass under the historic Koningshaven bridge.

"We’re happy it’s not happening," Marvin Biljoen, a councilman for GroenLinks, the Dutch Green Party, told the New York Times . "T he bridge is a national monument, which shouldn’t be altered too much. That you could still do that with money anyway bothers us."

Last week, Oceano quietly towed the yacht up the river in the early hours of the morning to a different shipyard, and now, Bezos's boat is nearly completed. The YouTube channel Dutch Yachting shared a video of the boat, and it has three large masts completed:

Expect the superyacht to be on the open seas soon.

Original 2/7/22 : The European port of Rotterdam will dismantle part of its iconic Koningshaven bridge for Jeff Bezos. The billionaire's new yacht is being built in Alblasserdam, in the western Netherlands, and will be too tall to pass under the bridge.

"It's the only route to the sea," a spokesperson for the mayor of Rotterdam told AFP , confirming the news of the bridge's dismantling. According to Dutch news , ship builder Oceanco convinced the city to dismantle part of the bridge. The Rotterdam mayor's spokesperson also confirmed that Bezos would pay for the dismantling and rebuilding of the bridge.

In November, Oceano's chairman, Omani businessman Dr. Mohammed Al Barwani, spoke of the 127 meter (416 feet) sailing yacht the company was working on without mentioning Bezos. Later, Boat International identified the 127m yacht as the one commissioned by the Amazon founder.

The Koningshaven bridge, known locally as the De Hef bridge , was built in 1877. During World War II, the bridge was significantly damaged and rebuilt, subsequently recognized as a historic monument. Between 2014 and 2017, the bridge underwent a restoration, and officials promised it would not be dismantled again.

"From an economic perspective and maintaining employment, the municipality considers this a very important project," Marcel Walravens, the leader of the proposed dismantling project, told Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond . "Rotterdam has also been declared the maritime capital of Europe. Shipbuilding and activity within that sector are therefore an important pillar for the municipality." Walravens says the project will likely take place sometime this summer.

Dennis Tak, a Labor Party city councilor, said he was OK with the dismantling of the Koningshaven bridge because Bezos is paying for it, and it would create jobs. "As a city, this is a great way to take some of his money," Tak told the New York Times .

Dutch residents are not happy, however; they plan to throw rotten eggs at Jeff Bezos's superyacht as it passes through the Rotterdam harbor. Business Insider reports Rotterdam locals are planning an event called "Throwing eggs at Jeff Bezos' superyacht" in protest.

"Calling all Rotterdammers, take a box of rotten eggs with you and let's throw them en masse at Jeff's superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam," the event description reads on Facebook. "Rotterdam was built from the rubble by the people of Rotterdam, and we don't just take that apart for the phallic symbol of a megalomaniac billionaire. Not without a fight!" 3,300 people have RSVP'd as going, and 11,600 are interested in the event.

When Bezos's yacht, known as Y721, is delivered later this year—after the bridge is dismantled—the boat will become the world's largest sailing yacht, a title that has been held for nearly a century by American socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post's 1931 boat Sea Cloud .

Along with making history as the largest sailing yacht, Bezos's Y271 is the longest yacht to have ever been built in the Netherlands, and Oceano's largest ever superyacht. It is also rumored to come with a "support yacht," also called a shadow vessel. The superyacht likely cost more than $500 million to build, per Bloomberg .

Bezos is also reportedly the owner of the Flying Fox, a $400 million megayacht.

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

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Jeff Bezos’s €430 million super yacht now in Rotterdam; No monumental bridges dismantled

Jeff Bezos’s super yacht has arrived in Rotterdam. It is at the Greenport in Eemshaven. The monumental bridge De Hef did not have to be taken apart to make way for the Amazon founder’s 127-meter-long vessel with an estimated value of 430 million euros.

The yacht was built at Oceano in Alblasserdam and then transported to Eemshaven, where the masts will be mounted, AD reports . From there, it can enter the North Sea without passing any bridges which are too low to allow passage.

The Koninklijke van der Wees Groep transported the mega yacht to Eemshaven. The Dordrecht company confirmed the transport to the newspaper but would not reveal additional detail.

Oceano also wouldn’t comment. “We are not making any statements about the projects because of confidentiality.”

News that De Hef had to be dismantled because the masts of the mega yacht could not fit underneath it caused a major outcry in the Netherlands in February. Thousands of people signed a petition to stop the dismantling and a Facebook event to throw eggs at the yacht quickly gained popularity.

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Superjacht Jeff Bezos aangekomen in Rotterdam, maar gevreesde ontmanteling van De Hef hoeft niet

• Sezen Moeliker
• Gepubliceerd op 2 augustus 2022
• Leestijd 1 minuut

Het superjacht van Amazon-oprichter Jeff Bezos, Project Y721, is aangekomen in de haven van Rotterdam. Doordat het schip zonder masten voer en een andere route koos, hoefde De Hef niet ontmanteld te worden, meldt de maritieme nieuwssite Schuttevaer dinsdag. Eerder dit jaar leek het er op dat De Hef gedemonteerd moest worden. Daarmee moest het mogelijk worden voor het schip van Bezos, met 127 meter lengte het grootste superjacht ooit gebouwd, om via de Rotterdamse haven naar zee te varen.

De drie masten van het schip, door scheeps-en jachtbouwer Oceanco gebouwd in het Zuid-Hollandse Alblasserdam, worden door kenners geschat op zo’n honderd meter hoog. Onder De Hef, officieel de Koningshavenbrug, doorvaren is voor Project Y721 kansloos. De brug heeft een doorvaarhoogte van zo’n veertig meter. Het middenstuk van De Hef zou met een drijvende bok met een hefvermogen van 1.800 ton gehesen moeten worden.

De verontwaardiging over het nieuws was groot. Als het schip in de zomer langs zou varen, moesten Rotterdammers het bekogelen „met rotte eieren”, zo luidde een oproep op Facebook. De Hef is een rijksmonument - daar mag je volgens sommige Rotterdammers niet aankomen. De gemeente Rotterdam had bovendien bij de heropening van de voormalige spoorhefbrug in 2017 beloofd dat deze niet meer ontmanteld zou worden.

Geen vergunning

Het is lange tijd onduidelijk gebleven of de gemeente de brug toch zou laten demonteren. In februari, toen de ophef ontstond, bevestigde de gemeente aan NRC dat toestemming was gegeven voor de doorvaart van het superjacht, waarna de Rotterdamse burgemeester Ahmed Aboutaleb zei dat hierover nog geen definitief besluit was genomen. Nadat het enige tijd stil bleef rondom deze kwestie, bleek eind juni dat scheeps- en jachtbouwer Oceanco nog steeds geen vergunning had aangevraagd .

Nu Project Y721 de Rotterdamse Eemhaven heeft bereikt en De Hef in tact is gebleven, lijkt de ophef voor niets te zijn geweest. Waarom eerder niet werd gesproken over de optie om zonder masten een andere route te varen, is niet duidelijk. Het transportbedrijf dat het transport van het superjacht heeft verricht, Koninklijke van der Wees, wil tegen Schuttevaer slechts zeggen dat het schip De Hef niet gepasseerd heeft.

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Rotterdamse brug wordt ontmanteld voor gigantisch plezierjacht van Jeff Bezos

Bezos, oud-CEO van Amazon en een van de rijkste mensen ter wereld, heeft bij jachtbouwbedrijf Oceanco in Alblasserdam een megajacht laten bouwen. Naar verluidt kost de boot 430 miljoen euro.

Nu is er een probleem: de Koningshavenbrug heeft een doorvaarhoogte van 40 meter en daardoor kan het jacht er niet onderdoor varen. Daarom heeft de scheepsbouwer de gemeente Rotterdam gevraagd om de brug uit elkaar te halen.

Het middenstuk van de brug moet eruit. Oceanco en Bezos vergoeden de onkosten, meldt Rijnmond . De gemeente besluit in de zomer van dit jaar wanneer de verbouwing gaat plaatsvinden, zegt een woordvoerder van Stadsontwikkeling Rotterdam.

'Het gaat om een incident'

De gemeente Rotterdam beloofde na een renovatie in 2017 dat de brug nooit meer uit elkaar gehaald zou worden, maar nu liggen er toch weer plannen voor demontage klaar.

"Die belofte was niet keihard, het gaat om een incident", zegt de woordvoerder. Het idee om het jacht achter 'De Hef' af te bouwen, is volgens projectleider Marcel Walravens erg onpraktisch. Bovendien is het op het gebied van economie en werkgelegenheid een belangrijk project.

'De Hef' is een icoon van Rotterdam

'De Hef' is ontworpen door Pieter Joosting (1867-1942). De brug is bekend vanwege de recordduik die Lou Vlasblom in 1933 vanaf de brug nam. Twee weken later wilde Jan Tabbernee dat record breken, maar hij overleed bij zijn sprong.

Nadat de brug zijn functie als spoorverbinding was verloren, werd 'De Hef' een rijksmonument. Dat betekent dat de brug niet zomaar aangepast mag worden. Sommigen zien het tijdelijk verwijderen van het middenstuk als een verandering en dat leidt tot protest. De vergunning voor de verbouwing is al wel aangevraagd.

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The Dutch vow to egg Jeff Bezos' yacht if a bridge is dismantled to let his boat pass

Rachel Treisman

Rotterdam residents appear to be up in arms over a plan to temporarily dismantle the Koningshaven lift bridge, popularly called "De Hef." Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Rotterdam residents appear to be up in arms over a plan to temporarily dismantle the Koningshaven lift bridge, popularly called "De Hef."

It's not exactly smooth sailing these days in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, where locals are voicing their objection to a plan that would temporarily dismantle a historic bridge to enable the passage of a record-breaking yacht reportedly owned by former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

In fact, some are already making plans — albeit in jest — for what they will do if the project comes to fruition: throw eggs at the yacht as it traverses the water under the Koningshaven Bridge, known locally as "De Hef."

Some 13,000 people are "interested" and nearly 4,000 have said they will attend a Facebook event titled "Throwing eggs at superyacht Jeff Bezos," which has been shared more than 1,000 times in the week since its creation.

Tens Of Thousands Sign Petition To Stop Jeff Bezos From Returning To Earth

"Calling all Rotterdammers, take a box of rotten eggs with you and let's throw them en masse at Jeff's superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam," wrote organizer Pablo Strörmann.

He told the NL Times that the protest started as a joke among friends and has quickly gotten "way out of hand." (The English-language news site also notes that this isn't Strörmann's first campaign to go viral.)

The news of De Hef's potential disassembly, however brief, has clearly struck a chord with both locals and international observers.

It all started last week when Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond reported that the city appeared willing to grant a request to dismantle the decades-old steel bridge so that Bezos' yacht could pass through.

De Hef was built in 1927 as a railway bridge, with a midsection that can be lifted to allow ship traffic to pass underneath, according to The Washington Post . It was replaced by a tunnel and decommissioned in 1994, but was saved from demolition by public protests and later declared a national monument.

The ship's three masts are apparently too high for the bridge's roughly 130-foot clearance.

After backlash, Jeff Bezos suggests naming library auditorium for Toni Morrison

The sailing yacht in question was reportedly commissioned by the billionaire Amazon founder and is currently being built at the Oceanco shipyard in the Netherlands, according to Boat International . It will consist of three masts with aluminum and steel construction and will measure more than 415 feet in length.

"Once delivered, not only will she become the world's largest sailing yacht but she will also hold the title for the largest superyacht ever built in the Netherlands," it added.

The waterway where the bridge sits is the only way the ship can get from the shipyard in Alblasserdam to the open seas, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . So Oceanco asked Rotterdam officials to temporarily remove the middle section of the bridge.

City spokesperson Netty Kros told the CBC that "the applicant" would cover the costs of the project but did not clarify whether that refers to the yacht's owner, the shipbuilder or both. Bloomberg reports that Oceanco will foot the bill. NPR has reached out to Amazon and Oceanco to confirm these details.

The city appeared to agree to the arrangement last week, with municipal project leader Marcel Walravens telling Rijnmond that the project would proceed for logistical and economic reasons. He said an exact plan was being developed but estimated it would take about a week to prepare and another week to "put everything back in place."

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"At the Koningenne Bridge, we can press a button, and it opens. That's not possible here because De Hef has a maximum height," Walravens said, according to a translation from the NL Times . "The only alternative is to take out the middle part."

That prompted an immediate backlash from locals, lawmakers and social media users, with the Rotterdam Historical Society pointing out that city officials had promised never to dismantle the bridge again after completing a major restoration in 2017.

Officials then walked back the reports, with Rotterdam's mayor telling a Dutch newspaper on Thursday that "no decision has yet been taken, not even an application for a permit," according to The Guardian .

He said the municipality would consider an application and assess the potential impacts, like whether the dismantling can be done without damaging the bridge and who would cover the costs.

Postcard from Rotterdam

Proponents of the plan say the project will bring more economic opportunities to the region, while critics say there's a double standard at play.

"Normally it's the other way around: If your ship doesn't fit under a bridge, you make it smaller," Strörmann told the NL Times. "But when you happen to be the richest person on Earth, you just ask a municipality to dismantle a monument. That's ridiculous."

With a net worth of more than $188 billion, Bezos is the third-richest person in the world behind Tesla founder Elon Musk and French businessman Bernard Arnault, according to Forbes' real-time list .

Hypothetically, if the project does come to pass, and locals do show up with eggs, just how hard of a moving target would the yacht be? The website Curbed set out to find out.

After examining several studies and making a few calculations, reporter Clio Chang says an egg would have to travel about 238 feet to hit the hull — "a difficult, but not impossible, feat."

This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog .

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Jeff Bezos’ $500m superyacht stuck after firm decides against dismantling historic Dutch bridge, says report

The 421ft y721 sailing yacht is being built by oceanco in rotterdam, article bookmarked.

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Jeff Bezos ’ $500m superyacht is stuck after the Dutch firm building it decided against dismantling a historic Rotterdam bridge following a public backlash and threats of an egg-throwing protest, says a report.

The billionaire Amazon founder had offered to pay for the middle section of the decommissioned Koningshavenbrug to be removed so that his monster 412ft sailing yacht, which is named Y721, could reach the ocean from its shipyard.

The yacht, currently the second-largest in the world, cannot get under the “De Hef” bridge without the modification taking place. But the plan has now been cancelled by manufacturer Oceanco after the criticism it faced, according to Dutch news outlet Trouw .

Back in February, it was announced that Oceanco had asked the city to temporarily remove the bridge, which dates from 1878 and was last renovated in 2017.

Marcel Walravens who managed the renovation project, told RTV that it was “not practical” to partially finish the vessel and complete construction elsewhere.

“If you carry out a big job somewhere, you want all your tools in that place. Otherwise, you have to go back and forth constantly. In addition, this is such a large project that there are hardly any locations where this work is finished.”

And he added: “From an economic perspective and maintaining employment, the municipality considers this a very important project. Rotterdam has also been declared the maritime capital of Europe.”

History groups in Rotterdam opposed the works, with thousands of Facebook users signing a petition promising to egg the yacht as it travelled through the city towards the open ocean.

“Calling all Rotterdammers take a box of rotten eggs with you, and let’s throw them en masse at Jeff’s superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam,” wrote event organiser Pablo Strörmann on the social media platform.

Now, the NL Times reports, Oceanco has “informed the municipality that it is cancelling its current logistical plans.”

Employees at the company “feel threatened and the company fears it will be vandalised”, according to DutchNews.nl

It is unclear how the yacht will now be moved from the construction site to the open water.

The Independent has reached out to Mr Bezos and Oceanco for comment.

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Megajacht van Jeff Bezos gaat gewoon door Rotterdam varen: ‘Mooi visitekaartje’

De Hef De kans is heel groot dat De Hef uit elkaar gaat voor het megazeiljacht van Jeff Bezos. Sterker nog: scheepsbouwers kunnen aan andere klanten vertellen dat ze met een gerust hart een enorm schip kunnen laten bouwen, want de monumentale, Rotterdamse brug mag vaker uit elkaar. 

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Jeff Bezos’s Yacht Narrowly Avoids Egging

Residents of Rotterdam, rejoice, for Jeff Bezos’s giant superyacht is officially (almost) out of your waters. Rotterdam citizens were furious earlier this year when reports suggested that Bezos would be paying to disassemble (and then reassemble) the city’s Koningshaven Bridge, also known as De Hef , to allow his massive 417-foot-long yacht to pass through.

Now, months after the initial uproar, Bezos’s boat has been quietly rerouted, slinking away in the middle of the night — not an easy feat considering the boat is being built to house three deck levels, a swimming pool, and a helicopter landing pad (not to mention the accompanying baby yacht).

Citizens of Rotterdam swore in February that, should Bezos’s superyacht traverse the De Hef bridge, they would pelt it with eggs in protest. So, naturally, when it finally came time to move the still-unfinished vessel, called Y721 , out of its current Dutch shipbuilding yard, the decision was made to tow it away under cover of darkness. Like a huge, 200-foot-tall bandit.

According to a video captured by Dutch Yachting , a yacht-enthusiast news channel on YouTube, Bezos’s pet project left the shipbuilding yard at 1 a.m. and arrived at the yard in Greenport, Rotterdam, sometime around 3 a.m. The website claimed that the yacht actually took a roundabout way out, passing by four bridge openings to make a 24-mile route, supposedly opting out of an alternative 14-mile route to avoid passing under De Hef.

The superyacht’s construction will continue in the Greenport yard, far away from De Hef and the angry, egg-holding residents of Rotterdam.

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DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English

Rotterdam bridge won’t be demolished for jeff bezos’ yacht: trouw.

There was a major outcry earlier this year when it emerged that the company, Oceanco, was planning to remove the middle section of the bridge temporarily so that the €500 million yacht could pass through.

Trouw used freedom of information legislation to find out more about the plan, and says Oceanco was so shocked by the February outcry that it has changed its mind.

‘ Shipyard employees feel threatened and the company fears it will be vandalised,’ Trouw said. Rotterdam had cited the threats as an argument not to make all of the documents public.

At the time the news broke, locals, politicians and historians all expressed their concerns about the demolition plan.

GroenLinks councillor Stephan Leewis, for example, told Rijnmond at the time that he took a dim view of the permission, particularly in the light of Amazon personnel policies and tax and regulation avoidance battles .

‘Now, we have to break apart our beautiful listed monument?’ he reportedly said, in calling an emergency debate. ‘This really is a bridge too far.’

On social media, commentators also pointed out the apparent inconsistency in strict, Dutch listed building policy and the privilege apparently afforded to an American billionaire to take apart a bridge which the council had previously promised would no longer be touched.

One person even called on people to sign up to throw eggs at the yacht as it moved through.

The Koningshavenbrug, known to Rotterdammers as De Hef, was renovated in 2017 and the council pledged at the time it would never be dismantled again.

At 127 metres long, Bezos’ yacht is set to be the largest sailing yacht in the world when delivered at some point this year, according to Boat International. It is reportedly being moved from one shipyard to another for final fitting.

The implications of the decision not to apply for permission to take down part of the bridge are as yet unclear. Oceanco has not commented on the Trouw story.

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Did Jeff Bezos put a sculpture of his girlfriend on the bow of his new $500 million megayacht? You be the judge.

• A sculpture on Jeff Bezos' new $500 million megayacht has tongues wagging: Is it his girlfriend?
• Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, were recently spotted on the yacht for the first time.
• The watercraft is named Koru, which is Māori for loop or coil and signifies new beginnings.

A sculpture on Jeff Bezos' new megayacht has people wondering whether it's his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez .

The figurehead on the prow of the 417-foot watercraft shows a woman with long hair in a flowing dress, as seen in photos first published by the Daily Mail . She appears to be wearing a necklace that may feature the symbol for koru, which is the name of the ship. Koru means "loop" or "coil" in the Māori language and often signifies new beginnings.

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Bezos and Sanchez, who went public with their relationship in 2019, were first spotted on the new $500 million superyacht earlier this week off the coast of Spain.

The vessel, believed to be the largest sailing yacht in the world, had a rocky road to completion. It caused an uproar when its Dutch shipmaker, Oceanco, requested that a historic bridge in Rotterdam in the Netherlands be dismantled for the yacht to pass because its masts were too tall to pass through underneath.

The 100-year-old Koningshaven Bridge, nicknamed "De Hef" by locals, had been renovated in 2017; after that, the city had vowed not to take it apart again, according to Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond .

Residents grew outraged and even threatened to egg the yacht if the bridge was dismantled, prompting Oceanco to withdraw its request and quietly tow away the yacht to another shipyard without its masts, which were installed later to avoid the clearance issue.

Koru was seen  doing sea trials , which are comprised of several tests and usually mark one of the last phases of construction, in February. The yacht made its maiden voyage in April when it left Oceanco's facilities to travel to Gibraltar on the way to Bezos.

Check out the photos of the yacht's figurehead on the Daily Mail .

Watch: Jeff Bezos reportedly just spent $165 million on a Beverly Hills estate — here are all the ways the world's richest man makes and spends his money

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