Jeff Bezos’ $500 Million Megayacht Has Set Sail For Its First Sea Trials

Koru (Y721), Jeff Bezos’ latest megayacht, has hit open waters.

According to Sail Web, the vessel, expected to cost $500 million, had its first day of sea trials in Europe this week.

Sea trials are a series of tests normally performed at the end of the construction process, indicating that the Amazon founder’s yacht is one step closer to full sail.

The sea trials follow a rowdy year for the megayacht, which was built in the Netherlands. Oceanco, the Dutch company building it, requested last year that a historic bridge in Rotterdam be demolished to allow the yacht to pass because the vessel’s three masts were too tall to pass under the bridge.

Koru, the boat, is 417 feet long and will be the largest sailing yacht in the world when completed.

The bridge in question was the Koningshaven Bridge, also known as “De Hef,” dating back over 100 years. According to Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond, once it was rebuilt in 2017, the city swore not to demolish it again.

The proposal was not favorably received. However, it sparked such a public outrage that over 1,000 locals threatened to hurl eggs at the yacht if the dismantling proceeded. Oceanco later dropped its proposal to demolish the bridge, and the boat was secretly transported to another shipyard at night.

According to the German magazine Der Spiegel, the boat was hauled without its masts, which would be fitted later. As a result, it avoided traveling through the city center and past the Koningshaven Bridge.