Protesters plan to throw EGGS at Jeff Bezos' superyacht as historic bridge gets dismantled
Dutch residents are strongly opposing the dismantling of a historic bridge so that Jeff Bezos' superyacht can easily sail through. The people of the Netherlands’ Rotterdam have also reportedly planned an event on June 1 to gather together to throw rotten eggs at the £400 million, 417-foot yacht, called the Y721, which is under construction at the Oceano shipyard in Alblasserdam in the Netherlands.
According to reports, the yacht that has three masts that are too tall, making it difficult for the yacht to pass under the 131-foot clearance of Rotterdam's Koningshaven Bridge, locally called De Hef, which is around 100 years old. Project leader Marcel Walravens told Rijnmond, “It is about a ship with high masts which cannot pass through the bridge. The only alternative is to take out the middle section.”
READ MORE
'Best day ever': Jeff Bezos gives the thumbs up after 11-minute ride to space
'Do you care?': Jeff Bezos panned for space trip pics after deaths at Amazon warehouse
Municipal project leader Marcel Walravens also supported the dismantling of the bridge by saying, “From an economic perspective and maintaining employment, the municipality considers this a very important project. In addition, Rotterdam has also been declared the maritime capital of Europe. Shipbuilding and activity within that sector are therefore an important pillar of the municipality.”
PvdA councilor Dennis Tak added: “What reassures me is that all costs will be fully reimbursed. In all honesty, I understand the fuss, but if the risk lies entirely with Bezos or Oceanco, then as far as I'm concerned, that's the end. It is of course a strong example of Dutch pride that these yachts are built here. The shipbuilding sector has had a hard time in recent years. Almost no ships are built in the Netherlands anymore. All container ships now come from Asia. This project offers a lot. local employment and also of a high level. Plus: I think it's good that we can still take some money from Bezos and put it in the region.”
However, after the news of the possible pulling down of the bridge came out, a Facebook event – called “Throwing eggs at superyacht Jeff Bezos” – was organized by Pablo Strörmann. The message with the post read, “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. 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. Not without a fight!”
At the time of writing the article, more than 7k people have responded to the event with 16k going and 6.2k interested. Ton Wesselink of the local history society Historisch Genootschap Roterodamum also showed his disagreement and said: “Jobs are important, but there are limits with what you can and should do with our industrial heritage.”
Other people who have shown their anger are GroenLinks councilor Stephan Leewis, who said, “This man has earned his money by structurally cutting staff, evading taxes, avoiding regulations and now we have to tear down our beautiful national monument? That is really going a bridge too far. I understand that it has been agreed that the costs for the construction and dismantling are paid by the shipbuilder and Bezos. I would like to see those agreements. Because there really can't be a cent of public money.”