Reports from earlier this month suggested that Jeff Bezos was finally getting his hands on his new $500 million superyacht. But it seems the Amazon founder is going to have to wait just a little bit longer for his new toy.
Koru, as the yacht has been christened, is undergoing more sea tests near Spain, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The 417-foot ship left a Netherlands shipyard last week and anchored Wednesday off the Spanish coast, near Mallorca. Despite the further testing, Bezos should have his yacht in time for some summer sailing.
During sea trials, a ship is tested to ensure that everything is working as it should be. Depending on what happens during this go-round, Koru could be sent back to the shipyard for final adjustments before making its way to Bezos, a person familiar with the boat’s travels told Bloomberg, requesting anonymity to discuss private matters. (An Amazon spokesperson didn’t respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.)
As yacht fans surely know already, Koru is a pretty big deal in the maritime world: It’s currently the largest sailing yacht afloat, and one of the biggest ever built by the Netherlands-based Oceanco. On board, among other amenities, you’ll find a large pool and more than a few outdoor lounges. One feature that’s missing, though? A helipad. Because the sails of the ship are so large (they’re the same height as the Great Pyramid of Giza, for some perspective), there wasn’t room for landing a helicopter. As such, Bezos has commissioned a support boat for the task. That vessel is currently crossing the Atlantic and heading for Gibraltar, according to tracking data cited by Bloomberg.
Koru’s size has created more than one headache for Bezos so far. Along with the helipad issue, the boat was going to cause a historic steel bridge in Rotterdam to be dismantled. The city initially acquiesced to Oceanco’s request, but there was enough public outrage over the demand that the shipbuilder ended up retracting its ask. Instead, Koru was pulled out to sea without its massive masts.
While getting the ship up and running has been a bit of a journey forBezos, it seems like the billionaire won’t need to wait too much longer. Soon, his own journeys aboard the sprawling superyacht can finally begin.
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