Jeff Bezos' $500M Yacht Fled A Dutch Port After Locals Threatened To Egg It Over A Bridge

Being a billionaire might get you many things in life, but it doesn't guarantee dismantling a historic Dutch bridge just to get your multi-million dollar luxury yacht to the other side of the port.

This is the lesson that Jeff Bezos has learned in his face-off with local authorities in the Netherlands.

His $500-million yacht had to be swiftly towed away in the wee hours of August 2, after angry locals threatened to vandalize it. The billionaire Amazon boss had irked them earlier this year by requesting to have the Koningshavenbrug bridge dismantled to give way to his vessel.

The unfinished mega-yacht was towed away from the Oceanco shipyard, in Alblasserdam to the Greenport yard, in Rotterdam, some 24 miles away, reported The New York Post.

The decision to tow away the ship followed threats of egging the luxury yacht from locals, if the city decided to cave into the Bezos' request.

Upon full construction, the 417-foot vessel, known as Y721, would have had three masts too tall for the bridge's clearance (131 ft), reported Business Insider.

Jeff Bezos's 127m/ 417ft Oceanco Y721 yacht was launched todaywww.youtube.com

Hanco's Bol's Youtube channel, Dutch Yachting posted a video of the boat being towed away soon after.

In the video description, Bol wrote that "the 127m/417ft three-masted schooner got fame, not only as Holland's largest superyacht to date, but also as the world's largest sailing yacht."

He shared that the towing began at 1 am, and the yacht was moved to Greenport within the next five hours. Oceanco, the company building the ship for Bezos, likely tried to keep the vessel's transportation out of the spotlight.

"We never saw a transport going that fast," said Dutch Yachting.

Oceanco was originally going to request for the Koningshavenbrug bridge, locally known as "De Hef" to be taken apart, but abandoned the plan after locals expressed extreme opposition, reported the news channel Trouw.

The historic early-20th century bridge, which was bombed during the Second World War, was renovated in 2017. Over the years, the bridge has become a local landmark and was even appointed a national monument.

Locals had even created Facebook groups to organize protests against its dismantling.

It's unclear what Oceanco plans on doing next with the mega-yacht that is still under construction.