Jeff Bezos and his Yacht
Jeff Bezos and his Yacht Following a public outcry, plans to dismantle Rotterdam’s Koningshaven Bridge have been scrapped.
black pearl – the model for jeff bezos new yacht
Jeff Bezos’ new yacht is thought to be modelled on the Black Pearl / ©Oceanco
Oceanco has built some incredible ships in its time including the legendary Black Pearl. But when news got out that the shipbuilder was working on the planet’s biggest sailing yacht, codenamed Y721, the press had a field day. Who was the person behind the record-setting boat? After months of speculation, it came as little surprise when reports finally emerged claiming Jeff Bezos as the mammoth vessel’s owner.
He is, after all, the third richest person on the planet with an estimated net worth of $137bn. It seemed only a matter of time before the billionaire would throw his hat into the superyacht arms race.
Y721 is nearing completion. But getting the gleaming new vessel out of Rotterdam wasn’t smooth sailing. Jeff Bezos’s yacht is so enormous that the Amazon-founder-turned-space-entrepreneur offered to pay for the city’s historic Koningshaven Bridge to be dismantled to let it pass.
Needless to say, this didn’t go down well with locals and a petition to pelt the boat with rotten eggs on its maiden voyage garnered thousands of signatures. Following the public uproar, Oceanco scrapped plans to temporarily take apart the bridge, and instead quietly towed the enormous yacht in the early hours of the morning to another shipyard where its masts will be added.
With Jeff Bezos edging ever closer to welcoming his record-breaking new yacht, we’ve rounded up everything there is to know about the gigantic vessel.
This isn’t the first time the custom yacht builder has turned its hand to constructing a record-breaking vessel. Four years ago, Oceanco delivered Black Pearl, which, at 350 ft, became the largest sailing yacht in the world. The striking three-mast vessel (pictured above) garnered attention for its revolutionary design and eco-credentials.
What do we know about the design?
While Oceanco has remained tight-lipped about the project, this hasn’t stopped a few details about Jeff Bezos’s new yacht from emerging. It is thought the vessel will be modeled on Black Pearl with three enormous masts so it can be powered largely by kinetic energy from the sails. First spotted being rolled out of a shipbuilding shed last year, the yacht features a black hull, white superstructure and elegant silhouette.
