The controversial megayacht of Amazon’s climate-crazy boss Jeff Bezos appears to have avoided an egging while sneaking through Rotterdam.
The incomplete megayacht of Amazon tsar and notorious climate crazy Jeff Bezos appears to have managed to sneak through Rotterdam last night without being egged, despite having drummed up massive controversy over plans to dismantle a city landmark to get the huge craft out to sea earlier this year.
Soon to be the largest megayacht ever built, the vessel earned the ire of local Rotterdammers after it was announced that a historic bridge would have to be partially dismantled to allow the ship built in a local yard to reach the sea due to the ship’s abnormally large masts, with many locals threatening to egg the vessel as it travelled through the city.
While this plan was subsequently dropped, according to a report by specialist website Schuttevaer, it appears that significant care was nevertheless taken to transport the vessel without upsetting the locals, with the incomplete ship reportedly taking an unusual, longer route to another shipyard, piquing the interests of enthusiasts.
The vessel is also reported to have started its journey at 3am, traversing through the dead of night to reach the Greenport Rotterdam Shipyard, where it is due to be completed.
People filming the unfinished ship’s maiden voyage meanwhile describe having searchlights aimed at them by workers, seemingly in an attempt to prevent them from filming or taking pictures.
“When I was standing on one of the bridges, they shined a searchlight on me, so it wasn’t easy for me to take pictures,” Der Spiegel reports one enthusiast as saying, who speculated that the strange route the ship took, as well as the time of the transfer, were both intentional to avoid pictures being taken of the vessel.
Also notable about reporting surrounding the launch of Bezos’ superyacht is that it seemingly appears to have avoided being egged by protesters, something that might have been at least partially avoided — despite previous threats — due to the time of the transfer.
This is also perhaps partly due to the fact that the ship avoided going near Rotterdam’s city centre entirely, despite initial plans involving the ship taking such a route, and even requiring the city’s famous Hef bridge to be dismantled so that the 130ft tall ship could pass through.
“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,” a Facebook event page advertising the protest previously read.
“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 continued. “Not without a fight!”
Meanwhile, despite making various pronouncements about climate change, Bezos’ crowning jewel, Amazon, has seen its carbon emissions spike in 2021, growing by nearly one-fifth over 2020.
This is on top of a previous 40 per cent rise in emissions between 2019 and 2020, something that was seemingly brought about by the company’s surging business during COVID-19.