Jeff Bezos' New Megayacht is So Big, the Dutch Are Going to Have to Take Apart a Historic Bridge to Let It Pass The bridge in Rotterdam, Netherlands, has a 131-foot clearance, but the ship's masts are too tall.
This story originally appeared on Business Insider
Jeff Bezos' new yacht is so big, it won't make it out to sea unless a Dutch city removes part of a historic bridge.
Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond reported Tuesday that the 417-foot vessel is currently being built in the city of Alblasserdam, Netherlands. Once finished, it will need to pass through Rotterdam, largely considered the maritime capital of Europe, in order to reach the ocean — and, presumably, Bezos.
There's only one problem: The megayacht has three masts, and the masts are too tall to pass underneath the Koningshaven Bridge in Rotterdam, despite its clearance of over 131 feet.
The bridge, which locals refer to as De Hef, is nearly 100 years old, and while it no longer functions as a railroad crossing, it's become something of a monument in the city. It was renovated and then put back together in 2017, after which the city pledged it wouldn't be taken apart again, Rijnmond reported.
But now, the city is reportedly planning to remove the center portion of the bridge to allow the vessel to pass through.
Frances van Heijst, a spokesperson for the municipality of Rotterdam, confirmed to Insider that the city is able to grant permission to the maritime sector to take a ship to sea. But van Heijst told the Washington Post Wednesday that the city will not be paying for the cost of dismantling the bridge and reassembling it — the shipbuilder, Oceanco, will pay for it.
A spokesperson for Oceanco did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The existence of Bezos' megayacht was first reported last May in Brad Stone's book, "Amazon Unbound." The custom yacht, currently known only as Y721, is predicted to cost $500 million and is expected to be "one of the finest sailing yachts in existence," Stone reported.
In addition to the mega-yacht, the Amazon founder — who is currently worth $176 billion — has reportedly commissioned a second, smaller "support yacht" that will include its own helipad.
In October, new photos and videos surfaced of what appeared to be the yacht rolling out of a shipyard in Zwijndrecht, Netherlands. The massive vessel was still unfinished, but photos published by Boat International and Daily Mail showed a ship with a black hull and multiple decks.
Boat International reports that the project will be completed in 2022 and will become the largest sailing yacht in the world.
