Rotterdam won't dismantle bridge to let Bezos' new superyacht through
Jeff Bezos will not be able to sail a new, more than 400-foot-long superyacht through the waters of the Dutch city of Rotterdam anytime soon.
The port city faced an uproar months ago as it considered dismantling a section of a 95-year-old bridge to allow the Amazon founder's yacht to pass. But now the boat's builder, the Dutch company Oceanco, has decided to refrain from applying for a permit, according to a Rotterdam City Council member.
It was unclear how Bezos' yacht would leave the area or whether Oceanco would finish the boat. The company did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday and Thursday. An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
The yacht was supposed to sail through the Koningshaven Bridge, known locally as “De Hef,” over the summer and was on track to become the largest sailing yacht in the world at 417 feet, according to the superyacht industry publication Boat International. The bridge does not have enough clearance for the yacht, which was being built in a nearby town.
Because Oceanco is no longer seeking an application, the middle part of the bridge will not be removed for now, according to a public letter from the council member, Vincent Karremans. The dismantling process takes about a day, as does putting it back together, according to Peter van Druten, a spokesperson for the city of Rotterdam.
De Hef opened in 1927 and was the first vertical lift bridge in the Netherlands, but it is no longer in use. It has been dismantled before — most recently in 2017 for a renovation, van Druten said. The bridge is “an icon for the city,” he said.
The full cost of the dismantling would have been covered by Oceanco, the city said, and the bridge would have immediately been restored afterward.
City officials told reporters in February that Rotterdam had agreed to briefly dismantle the bridge to allow Bezos' yacht to go through. But after backlash, they walked back that statement and said a decision had not been made.
A Facebook event at the time invited residents of the city to throw eggs at the boat.