Following five years of rumors, scandals, and more than its fair share of controversy, Jeff Bezos’s yacht has finally set sail. The colossal 417-ft vessel – officially named Koru – was spotted in the North Sea undergoing its first tests in March. Now, following her maiden voyage at the beginning of April, the enormous vessel has reportedly been delivered to her owner.
Getting to this point hasn’t been easy. Back in 2018, news got out that Oceanco – the custom yacht builder behind the legendary Black Pearl – was working on the planet’s biggest sailing yacht, codenamed Y721.
Naturally, the press had a field day trying to figure out who was behind the record-setting vessel. After several months of speculation, it came as little surprise when reports emerged claiming Jeff Bezos as the billionaire bankrolling the new project.
He is, after all, the third richest person on the planet with an estimated net worth of $128bn. So, it seemed only a matter of time before the Amazon founder would throw his hat into the superyacht arms race.
But when the gleaming new vessel was nearing completion, Oceanco hit a roadblock. Getting Koru out of Rotterdam proved trickier than the Dutch shipbuilder had anticipated. In fact, Jeff Bezos’s new yacht is so enormous that the space entrepreneur offered to pay for the city’s historic Koningshaven Bridge to be dismantled to let it pass.
Needless to say, this didn’t go down well with locals and a petition to pelt the boat with rotten eggs on its maiden voyage garnered thousands of signatures. Following the public uproar, Oceanco scrapped plans to temporarily take apart the bridge and instead quietly towed the enormous yacht in the early hours of the morning to another shipyard where its masts were added.
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As Jeff Bezos’s record-breaking new yacht finally sets sail, we’ve rounded up everything there is to know about the gigantic vessel.
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Who is building Jeff Bezos’s yacht?
The new superyacht was commissioned in 2018 and is being constructed by Oceanco for an estimated $500m. Situated in Alblasserdam, around 12 miles from Rotterdam, the luxury shipyard is owned by Omani billionaire businessman, Mohammed Al Barwani.
This isn’t the first time the custom yacht builder has turned its hand to constructing a record-breaking vessel. Four years ago, Oceanco delivered Black Pearl, which, at 350 ft, became the largest sailing yacht in the world. The striking three-mast vessel (pictured above) garnered attention for its revolutionary design and eco-credentials.
What do we know about the design?
While Oceanco has remained tight-lipped about the project, this hasn’t stopped a few details about Jeff Bezos’s new yacht from emerging. It is thought the vessel will be modeled on Black Pearl with three enormous masts so it can be powered largely by kinetic energy from the sails. First spotted being rolled out of a shipbuilding shed last year, the yacht features a black hull, white superstructure and elegant silhouette.
According to Boat International, the aluminum and steel schooner will boast three decks including one with a swimming pool. At 417 ft long, the enormous vessel is set to become the world’s largest sailing yacht, unseating the current titleholder, the Black Pearl, by 67 ft. To put things in perspective, if stood vertically, Jeff Bezos’s new yacht would be almost the same height as the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The controversial vessel was set to exceed the Koningshaven Bridge’s 131-ft clearance and had to be towed to a different shipyard where it will be completed. With so much space, the yacht will be able to comfortably host 18 guests, plus a crew of 40 to cater to their every whim.
Perhaps most extravagant is the 250-ft support vessel complete with a helicopter landing pad for flying in Bezos’s celebrity guests, which is reportedly currently being built by Damen Yachting also in the Netherlands. This smaller yacht is expected to be loaded with an array of toys including jet skis, speedboats, luxury cars and perhaps even a personal submarine.
It’s little wonder Jeff Bezos’s yacht will reportedly cost around $25m to run annually – a drop in the ocean for Bezos who broke records in July 2020 for adding $13bn to his fortune in a single day.
How about the interiors?
While it’s highly unlikely we’ll get a look inside Jeff Bezos’s new vessel any time soon, the interiors onboard Koru are reported to be inspired by Eos – a 305-ft yacht that belongs to his close friend, the founder and former CEO of Fox, Barry Diller.
The interiors onboard Eos were created by the late François Catroux, known for his glamorous designs for the world’s most notable royals, aristocrats and media moguls. Like Diller, when Bezos decks out his new yacht, one thing is certain: no expense will be spared.
[See more: The 10 Biggest Superyachts in the World]
