Billionaires: they walk around thinking they own the place. Or, in this case, it’s Jeff Bezos trying to make way for his superyacht. How? He’s getting the De Hef bridge taken apart. 🙄
Amazon CEO, and self-appointed space cowboy, Jeff Bezos commissioned yacht building company Oceanco in Alblasserdam, South Holland for a mid-life crisis yacht with a hefty €430 million price tag.
You would think the logistics would be well-thought-out with so much money on the line. But apparently, the landmark Koningshaven bridge in Rotterdam (aka De Hef) is now standing in the way of taking this boat on a spin, reports the NOS.
Bezos’ solution? Throw money at it till it disappears. 🚿
A national monument
Oceanco and Bezos asked the municipality of Rotterdam, the maritime capital of Europe, to temporarily dismantle the 1878 monument so that the megaship can pass. 😶
Rotterdammers feel very strongly about the De Hef. In the early 90s, they resisted demolition plans after the bridge lost its function as a train passage. From 2014 to 2017, the bridge underwent a complete restoration and is now generally considered a national monument.
To make it completely clear: asking to take the De Hef bridge apart for your superyacht is a bit like asking if it would be possible to take down the Eiffel Tower because it’s in the way of your private jet or something. Rude!
Where’s your logic? I can’t see it!
Worst of all, Rotterdam’s municipality seems to be game, according to Rijnmond. “Employment is important, but there are limits to what you can and may do with our heritage,” comments Ton Wesselink of the Historical Society Roterodamum.
Municipality liaison and De Hef project leader Marcel Walravens explains that “De Hef has a maximum height. The only alternative is to take out the middle part.”
So, will Bezos actually get his well and have the bridge taken apart? The possibility is present, as “from an economic perspective and the perspective of maintaining employment, the municipality considers this a very important project,” says Walravens.
People ain’t happy, Bezos
As expected, people made room for their anger, surprise, and disbelieve over this foolishness on Twitter:
“How do you ask something like this? ‘Yes, hello, Bezos here. Listen, could you quickly take a piece out of the bridge, will ‘ya? Yes…boat too big, yeah. Annoying…’ This request ended up on someone’s office desk. Strange workday.”
We at DutchReview are taking it out in a news rant as you can see, but Twitter folks had other ideas. 👀
What do you think of this very usual request to the city of Rotterdam? Feel free to rant and tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Feature Image: DutchReview/Supplied
Take his ‘boat’ apart.
I’m a little puzzled regarding the Bezos yacht/bridge controversy. I would assume that the architects and Oceanco (not the first yacht they built) were aware of the construction limitations. Common sense dictates that when you built something e.g. house, ship, bridge, rocket etc., you take all the parameters into consideration. In this instance one would consider the length, the depth and very important, the height of the masts. Obviously, something was overlooked! In that case we’re talking about stupidity. On the other hand, did they inform the city of Rotterdam that the bridge would be a problem? Could it be that Mr. Bezos believes that the sky is the limit and obstacles can be overcome with money? In which case we’re talking about capitalist arrogance.
Don’t worry too much about this poorly researched ‘news’ article. Little investigation and much speculation is a strategy to gain attention, not to report on happenings around us. The constraint was indeed known from day one. The constraint has been known for this shipbuilder since it became one in the 00’s. The bridge was re-designed (back to its original design) and rebuilt in the ’00s. The bridge was destroyed in WW2 and a swing bridge had been used for the following 60 years which is why the shipbuilder was able to be a viable business for this size ship. The new (old design) bridge was designed to be able to be partially disassembled specifically for these reasons to allow the shipbuilder to not lose business. This is not the first and will not be the last time it accommodates the shipbuilder.
Too much money corrupts people. Mega-money corrupts governments.
Come on… The flip side of the coin, besides that he is paying for all costs, the boat was built in The Netherlands generating jobs and taxes. How can people complaint about it??? Dutch people don’t realize the good life they have….
tell bezos to fuck him self
I just don’t get it, the Dutch Review have this space to comment the articles, you leave your thoughts and they simply ignore it and don’t publish….
Bezos is a effing idiot! WhoTF needs a 500 MILLION dollar yacht anyway? Go learn how to weld Bezos and restore a classic AMERICAN hot rod!