Dutch residents vow to hurl EGGS at Jeff Bezos’s newly-built £400m Y721 superyacht as it sets sail for first time after Amazon billionaire asked to dismantle historic bridge to get vessel out
- Thousands have responded to a Facebook event to throw eggs at a superyacht
- It encourages ‘all Rotterdammers’ to throw rotten eggs at Jeff Bezos’s Y721
- Y721 will be the biggest sailing yacht in the world when it is completed this year
- Currently being finished at Oceano shipyard in Alblasserdam in The Netherlands
- But in order for it to reach the ocean, the iconic Koningshavenbrug bridge in Rotterdam, known to locals as De Hef, will have to be dismantled for a day
More than 3,900 people are ‘interested’ in a Facebook event calling for Rotterdam residents to throw rotten eggs Jeff Bezos’s newly built-superyacht, for which a historic Dutch bridge will be dismantled.
The bill to allow the yacht to pass through being footed by the Amazon billionaire, with the £400million, 417ft (127 metre) Y721 set to be the biggest sailing yacht in the world when it is completed this year in the Netherlands, overtaking the current largest ocean-going passenger ship Sea Cloud.
It is currently being built at the Oceano shipyard in Alblasserdam in the west of the Netherlands, but in order to get out to sea the iconic Koningshavenbrug bridge in Rotterdam, known to locals as De Hef, will have to be dismantled.
Normally new ships pass under the bridge with a clearance of 130ft before their masts are assembled. But the superstructure of Bezos’s vessel is higher than the bridge and the shipyard says it is not practical to sail it out while partially constructed.
A Facebook event to which more than 900 people have clicked ‘going’ has called for ‘all Rotterdammers’ to throw eggs at the yacht ‘en masse’ when it passes through De Hef in the summer.
Organised for June 1 by Pablo Strörmann, it reads: ‘Take a box of (rotten) eggs with you and let’s throw them en masse at Jeff’s superyacht when it sails through De Hef in Rotterdam.
‘Rotterdam was built from the rubble by the people of Rotterdam, and we don’t just take that apart for the phallus symbol of a megalomaniac billionaire. Not without a fight!’
The the iconic Koningshavenbrug bridge in Rotterdam, known to locals as De Hef will be dismantled to allow Jeff Bezos’s newly-built superyacht to pass through, with the bill being footed by the Amazon billionaire
Despite the bridge’s iconic status, yacht builder Oceano and Bezos have successfully lobbied the local council in order for the bridge to be dismantled to allow his yacht to pass
A Facebook event to which more than 900 people have clicked ‘going’ has called for ‘all Rotterdammers’ to throw eggs at the yacht ‘en masse’ when it passes through De Hef in the summer
The £400million, 417ft Y721 will be the biggest sailing yacht in the world when it is completed this year in the Netherlands, overtaking the current largest ocean-going passenger ship
Bezos’s ownership of the yacht was confirmed in the book Amazon Unbound, which described the boat as ‘one of the finest sailing yachts in existence’. Pictured: Bezos (left) with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez
Mr Strörmann has even linked to a video tutorial for making a ‘cardboard egg-grenade launcher’ on the page ‘for the advanced egg throwers’.
Comments on the event discussion board have ranged, with one calling for people to bring a ‘paper bag filled with poop’ and others denouncing the idea.
The Amazon founder’s secretive yacht – a glimpse of which was caught in October – will feature three enormous masts and three decks, and it will be unable to fit under the bridge, even with its full clearance of 130ft (40 metres).
When the bridge was renovated in 2017, the local council pledged that it would never be dismantled again.
However, according to Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond, that promise is set to be broken to accommodate Bezos’s giant ship, with the Amazon founder promising to cover the costs needed for the work.
A local left-wing party called for an emergency council debate about the bridge, DutchNews.nl reported.
GroenLinks councillor Stephan Leewis reportedly told Rijnmond: ‘Now, we have to break apart our beautiful listed monument? This really is a bridge too far.’
De Hef was first built over the Nieuwe Maas river in 1927 and has been a key feature throughout Rotterdam’s history since its construction.
In 1933, a Dutchman named Lou Vlasblom made a then-record breaking dive from the top of the bridge. Two weeks later, Jan Tabbernee died trying to match the stunt.
The bridge, characterised by its two towers and the green tint to its steel, was heavily damaged in 1940 during the bombardment of Rotterdam, and is now officially protected as a landmark.
Previous attempts to permanently demolish the bridge, such as one in 1993, were met with fierce resistance from locals, who succeeded in blocking the plan.
And for a brief period between 2014 and 2017, the De Hef lost its footbridge between the two towers, with the council promising to not dismantle it again.
Despite its iconic status, Oceano and Bezos have successfully lobbied the local council in order for the bridge to be dismantled to allow his yacht to pass.
The Amazon founder’s secretive yacht will feature three ‘enormous’ masts and several decks. It is being built by custom yacht builder Oceanco and is thought to be based on the company’s Black Pearl ship
Rijnmond reported that councillors agreed to the request despite facing opposition from local history experts and other residents.
Ton Wesselink, a member of the local history society Historisch Genootschap Roterodamum, told the broadcaster: ‘Jobs are important, but there are limits with what you can and should do with our industrial heritage.’
But the leader of the project Marcel Walravens praised the council’s decision, saying there was no other option, and hopes only have to remove the top section.
‘This mainly concerns the passage of a ship with high masts through De Hef. At the Koninginnebrug we can press a button and it opens,’ he said.
‘That is not possible here, because De Hef has a maximum height. The only alternative is to take out the middle part.’
Walravens said that he hopes that, if managed well, the middle section of the bridge should only be removed for a single day to allow the yacht to pass through.
In October last year, the superyacht known as Y721 was rolled out of the Zwijndrecht shipyard, before being moved to Alblasserdam to be given its final fittings.
It is being built by Oceanco and is thought to be based on the company’s Black Pearl ship, one of the largest and most ecological yachts in the world.
De Hef was first built over the Nieuwe Maas river in 1927 and has been a key feature throughout Rotterdam’s history since its construction. The bridge was heavily damaged in 1940 during the bombardment of Rotterdam, and is now officially protected as a landmark
Pictured: The Black Pearl, the largest DynaRig sailing yacht in the world, with three 230ft tall (70 metre) carbon masts, and was built in 2018
The Black Pearl is the largest DynaRig sailing yacht in the world, with three 230ft tall (70 metre) carbon masts, and was built in 2018.
Bezos’s ownership of it was confirmed in the book Amazon Unbound, which described the boat as ‘one of the finest sailing yachts in existence’.
Bezos lost his place as the richest man in the world last year to space tech rival Elon Musk. He currently has a net worth of $175billion (£130billion).
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