Jeff Bezos’ $500m superyacht stuck after firm decides not to dismantle bridge in Rotterdam

Following the public condemnation, protests involving tossing rotten eggs at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, his super expensive $500m superyacht deal was in a limbo Saturday after Dutch firm decided it will not dismantle the historic Dutch Rotterdam bridge. Bezos was ready to buy the middle part of the landmark ‘Koningshavenbrug De Hef’ in Netherlands in order to take it down for this super luxury 412ft yacht named 'Y721,' the largest in the world, to be inaugurated from the sea.

The ship building firm Oceanco, who had the project to build Bezos' yacht, has stalled the deal due to the backlash it received from the Dutch people who lambasted the Amazon founder for fiddling with the historic bridge that was built in 1927, according to the Dutch newspaper Trouw.

Bezos' project 'not practical' 

Marcel Walravens, the manager of the renovation project, told RTV that the project was “not practical” to partially finish the vessel while completing 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," he went on to iterate. “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," Walravens stressed. His remarks came as hundreds of Dutch Facebook users signed a petition pledging to egg the yacht during the inauguration. 

“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,” organiser of the event, Pablo Strormann wrote on social media.

Dutch citizens strongly opposed the dismantling of the 140-year-old bridge to provide a way for the American billionaire’s $500 million vehicle. The Dutch council meanwhile had pledged it would never let the landmark be dismantled due to its historic significance. ‘Koningshavenbrug De Hef’ is deemed as iconic, as it is the first-of-its-kind for Europe railway lift bridge that was established in 1927. It was even renovated after the bombardment of the Dutch city by German forces in WWII on May 14, 1940. But at Rotterdam, in the municipality Alblasserdam, the constructors of the three-masted beast of the yacht had managed to convince the Dutch authorities to dismantle the bridge as a $500 million vessel will be the "world’s largest sailing yacht," they had reportedly said. It was planned to sail from Oceanco’s Alblasserdam shipyard to the North Sea, reported the Dutch media outlet DutchNews.nl. The bridge is highly beloved by the Dutch people as it carried the train traffic up until 1993 when tunnels opened in the Nieuwe Maas. Dismantling the monument for Bezos' megayacht has caused angst among the Dutch population.