Historic Steel Bridge to be Dismantled Because it’s too Small for Bezos Superyacht to Pass

A historic steel bridge in the Netherlands is to be partly dismantled in order to allow Jeff Bezos’ new superyacht to pass.

The Koningshaven Bridge — more commonly known as De Hef — is to be partly dismantled in order to allow Jeff Bezos’ new superyacht to pass underneath.

Located in Rotterdam, the bridge was first constructed in the 1920s and was later renovated between 2014 and 2017, after which officials reportedly claimed it would never be taken apart ever after.

However, according to an AFP report, the top of the bridge will once again be disassembled in order to allow a newly constructed superyacht owned by multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos to pass.

“It’s the only route to the sea,” the AFP reports a spokesman for Rotterdam’s mayor as saying.

The spokesman also reportedly added that the Amazon co-founder would be footing the bill for the project.

While the move has angered many in the Netherlands, the mayor’s office emphasised the economic benefits of the project, which is due to last a number of weeks, and that the national monument will be reconstructed in its current form.

Many remain unhappy regarding the decision however, with over 2,000 people responding to an event on Facebook calling on Rotterdammers to throw rotten eggs at the yacht as it sails past the iconic bridge.

“Calling all Rotterdammers, take a box of (rotten) eggs with you and let’s throw them en masse at Jeff’s superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam,” the event’s description reads.

“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,” it continues. “Not without a fight!”

Bezos’ new 130ft tall superyacht — which is being constructed by yacht builder Oceanco — will be the largest of its kind in the world, and is rumoured to boast a “support yacht” with a helicopter pad, something the main yacht could not apparently have built-in due to it reportedly sporting large sails.

Reports also claim that the yacht — which is titled Project 721 — will be 127 meters long, and likely cost more than half a billion US Dollars.

However, as someone who has committed $10 Billion to a fund that aims to tackle climate change, the on-and-off world’s richest man has previously gained media attention over his yachting habit.

Before travelling to the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit on his $65 million private jet, Bezos reportedly spent time relaxing with Microsoft founder Bill Gates on their respective yachts, which were situated at the time off the Turkish coast.

After arriving in Scotland for the event, Bezos went on to make a speech at the conference discussing how seeing the Earth from space — the billionaire technically became an astronaut after blasting off earlier in the year — changed his perspective on the fragility of the world.

“Looking back at Earth from up there, the atmosphere seems so thin, the world so finite and so fragile,” the soon-to-be superyacht owner said, according to the BBC. “Now, in this critical year and what we all know is the decisive decade, we must all stand together to protect our world.”