The City of Rotterdam has agreed to temporarily dismantle part of its Koningshaven Bridge so that Jeff Bezos’ 127 metre-long Y721 mega yacht can pass the waterway according to a report by The Washington Post. The yacht which is valued at an estimated US$500 million is being built by Dutch Company, Oceano in a city nearby called Alblasserdam and once she is sets sail the ship will be the worlds largest sailing ship according to Boat International.
The Y721 is a sailing yacht with three enormous masts measuring about 40 metres high and won’t make it under the bridge’s structure which already has a lift mechanism.
Now, as I am sure you have already guessed, the City of Rotterdam has been criticised for the decision because the Koningshaven bridge was built in 1927 and was declared a national monument in 1944. Furthermore, it was put out of service in 1994 after it was replaced by a tunnel. In 2014 it went under reconstruction and after that, the city said that it wouldn’t be torn down again…
The bright side, if you can call it that, is that Bezos’ pockets are deep enough to pay for the dismantling process, this was confirmed by Rotterdam Municipality spokesperson Frances van Heijst. Oceano is also reported to also be footing the bill to allow for Jeff Bezos’ yacht to make its pass…
All I can say to this is that if you doubted the power of the ultra-rich, here is the best example of how they can literally move a bridge to get a new toy. Also, your favourite Mbinga could never…
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8 comments
Money controls the world
Get rich or die trying. 50 Cent said that. You need to learn and understand. Money is power. It controls everything. Watch The Wolf Of Wallstreet
As a place with a traditional and very very lucrative ship building industry, it was irresponsible to promise not to disassemble the bridge without coming to an agreement to limit the size of future ships, which would probably lose them business to other regions. Its a shame this monument of a bridge will be taken down again, but there’s ultimately no loss in doing it.
But eish, look at Jeff go! It’s like he bounced back right into space after having a quarter chopped off! 🤣
Everyone has got a price, in this case, anything. That yacht is longer and bigger than my hood…. the rectangle part of my hood.
When you start working for money, money starts working for you!
It’s amazing isn’t it? I seriously want to get rich myself but that’s not the point of life, is it?
If they were happy enough to accept the $500 million to build the yacht into their economy then they have to accept the bridge being torn down and put back again after all it’s not as if they are going to use tax money to do so.
So the boat was actually made in the area – I see nothing wrong with that – headlines make it seem like the guy was just sailing there on a pleasure cruise and then threw his weight around to have the town bend to his will, but its perfectly fine. It’s a ship/boat building region, he bought a large one, it’s good for the town – nothing to see here!