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February 4,2022

Anna Murray 

Rotterdammers refer to the historic Koningshaven Bridge in the Dutch city Rotterdam as De Hef, a national landmark that dates from 1878 and was reconstructed in 1927. The landmark bridge will be partially removed to allow Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to pass through on his new pleasure yacht. Ironically, the Rotterdam Historical Society had earlier declared that when the bridge was repaired in 2017, the municipality promised it would never be removed again.

The 430 million euro (US$485 million) superyacht is designed by Dutch luxury yacht builder Oceanco and is around 127 meters (417 feet) in length. According to Boat International, when completed, the colossus will be the world's largest sailing boat. The ship's three huge masts are too big for the bridge's 40-meter clearance.

According to a survey by maritime data firm VesselsValue, the spike in boat sales was fueled in part by exceptional pandemic-era wealth gains among the world's wealthiest cohort and increasing demand for semi-isolated activities. Yacht sales were surging as the world economy recovered from a year of lockdowns. As a result, Mr. Bezos isn't the only billionaire who spends his money on expensive ships. Superyachts had a great year in 2021 with a total of 887 sold worldwide. This represents a 77 percent increase in sales over the previous year and more than double the number of yachts sold in 2019.