Bezos makes many faux pas like this that aren't really so bad but keep coming and make him look like an insensitive jerk who doesn't care how his actions affect people or what they think.
This isn’t a faux pas, this is a hit piece. Any halfway intelligent person would be able to tell the difference between the two.
The bridge was designed to do this, this is something that the builders intended. The previous bridge on this spot was actually replaced with this one because the previous one couldn’t accommodate the local shipbuilding industry.
You probably missed the bit where the Yacht is higher than the maximum elevation of the bridge, the part where it was decreed that the bridge is a monument and that in the future it would no longer be taken apart for tall ships to pass because of the risk of structural damage to the bridge each time that happens.
> the part where it was decreed that the bridge is a monument and that in the future it would no longer be taken apart for tall ships to pass because of the risk of structural damage to the bridge each time that happens.
That’s just the nature of government. The people running things in 2022 are not bound by the promises of people who used to run things in 2017.
I wish there was a sort of mark on posts that point to paywalled junk like Bloomberg. I hate clicking through and getting a "Hey pay us money!" on every other link.
I mean, isn't this the shipbuilder's responsibility? It's not bezos' responsibility to vet the bridge heights of the port and compare that to ship drawings.
I read somewhere yesterday that the city council approved the plan. For the shipbuilder to build the ship, it would need the city council approval dues to sizing concerns. And somehow the city council approved it, even the council is aware of dismantling the bridge temporary. So I am not sure whose fault for allowing this. So it seems that it is the city council that approved this plan. So the investigation should be looking into those council for allowing this to happen in the first place.
The middle part was designed to come off cleanly, although that is pretty much an inherent feature of these designs and not necessarily a deliberate choice.
Precisely, and because of the special status of that particular bridge the decision was made to not expose it to further risk.
It's a bit like moving the Eiffeltower out of the way because some moron wants to move a building through Paris, but on a slightly smaller scale and with the bridge section already 'loosely coupled' to the supports. But the risk is real, witness what happened in Alphen and no amount of handwringing will put it back together if they something goes wrong during disassembly, storage or reassembly.
It is now a part of our heritage and should be treated as such.
Fair enough. Although the blame and outrage should be pointed at the shipbuilder themselves. The news headlines like to muster up hatred for the rich any time they can because it's a juicier story. Sure, the guy bought a ridiculously expensive boat. He didn't have much to do about the bridge being taken apart.
That depends. I wasn't there but I would assume the shipbuilder made this known to the buyer who may well have relied on his money to believe that this obstacle would not be an obstacle. Plenty of evidence for such behavior in the past.
What I can't imagine is that it is a surprise for any of the parties involved.
Incorrect. Local media reports that no permit request was made so therefore there could never have been issued a permit that allowed dismantling the bridge.
In fact, the opposite has happened, there is a shitstorm brewing here that is likely going to have a particularly unpleasant billionaire and his toy on one side of that bridge and the rest of the municipality on the other.
I wonder how bad this actually is. Things like new ships tend to get bigger and bigger as time passes. Even if Bezos pushed the problem forward in time, it seems the shipyards behind the bridge will run into this problem again and again.
> Things like new ships tend to get bigger and bigger as time passes.
That isn't a law of nature. The shipyards could have chosen not to build a ship too tall to pass under the bridge. We have regulations on the size of semi trucks rather than expect every highway overpass to be dismantled to make way for arbitrarily large cargo, there is no reason this shipyard or the Dutch government should simply put up their hands, rather than make them build a shorter craft, or dismantle the mast, or something.
> The enormity of the yacht’s sails will make it unsafe to land a helicopter onboard, so Bezos has commissioned a support yacht equipped with a helipad to trail alongside.
Okay, that's amazing lmao!
My biggest aspiration was to have a single yacht with a helipad, car, and garage for another smaller boat and jetty.
This guy is like "nope, another yacht for the helipad"
Nope, I don't like the idea of maintenance, and even with the prerequisite of a whole crew that does all of that, I still can't reconcile the time needed to enjoy it amongst my other material possessions. Like, how often do I even use my terrace?
But I am watching that culture to see if anyone has solved all of this in an enticing way.
Before I reached the end of the sentence I was imagining the solution to be some more exotic and nimble aircraft. Or maybe a deployable helipad. I just wasn't thinking with enough excess.
I'm not the biggest fan of Jeff Bezos but this is clickbait. They're (the city) temporarily dismantling a portion of the bridge to get the yacht out. Rotterdam is a city well known for shipbuilding and it brings a lot of money and jobs into the city as far as I can tell.
I am still looking for a better article but yeah bloomberg is trying to make a controversy out of nothing.
The two options are dismantle the masts for passage under the bridge(it appears a poor design to have a sailing ship with a mast that can not easily be repaired) or dismantle and reassemble the bridge and you can bet that Bezos is paying the city of Rotterdam to preform this passage action.
But as you can tell from the fervor of accusations here "Jeff Bezos pays the city of Rotterdam to temporarily dismantle the De Hef bridge for passage of his new superyacht" does not make a good headline.
The bridge has been given a special status and an agreement was made not to dismantle it any more because each time they do that they risk damage to the structure. Shipbuilders are well aware of this but they must have figured that if they just build the boat that the rules will be bent.
Will journalists write about the fact that Bezos gave $500 million to the local Dutch economy, which I think the locals would rather have over temporarily disassembling this bridge?
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 94.1 ms ] threadBezos makes many faux pas like this that aren't really so bad but keep coming and make him look like an insensitive jerk who doesn't care how his actions affect people or what they think.
I don't know, and I don't care.
But I know he's not going to sue his way to the moon. He'll get more of what he wants if he learns to look like he cares even if he doesn't.
The bridge was designed to do this, this is something that the builders intended. The previous bridge on this spot was actually replaced with this one because the previous one couldn’t accommodate the local shipbuilding industry.
That’s just the nature of government. The people running things in 2022 are not bound by the promises of people who used to run things in 2017.
> *$415 ($415 USD) charged to your card annually after 1 year introductory offer. Cancel at anytime.
Pbbbbt!
Or do you just realize "oh dam it won't fit" right before delivery
Allowing this is an perfectly normal thing, shipbuilding is a crucial part of the local economy and the bridge was literally designed to do this.
It's a bit like moving the Eiffeltower out of the way because some moron wants to move a building through Paris, but on a slightly smaller scale and with the bridge section already 'loosely coupled' to the supports. But the risk is real, witness what happened in Alphen and no amount of handwringing will put it back together if they something goes wrong during disassembly, storage or reassembly.
It is now a part of our heritage and should be treated as such.
What I can't imagine is that it is a surprise for any of the parties involved.
In fact, the opposite has happened, there is a shitstorm brewing here that is likely going to have a particularly unpleasant billionaire and his toy on one side of that bridge and the rest of the municipality on the other.
https://www.schuttevaer.nl/nieuws/actueel/2022/02/03/aboutal...
If you read somewhere they have a permit then it would be nice to see the source.
You can build any ship you want, you may not be able to move it around past a certain size. You also do not need a permit to build a ship.
That isn't a law of nature. The shipyards could have chosen not to build a ship too tall to pass under the bridge. We have regulations on the size of semi trucks rather than expect every highway overpass to be dismantled to make way for arbitrarily large cargo, there is no reason this shipyard or the Dutch government should simply put up their hands, rather than make them build a shorter craft, or dismantle the mast, or something.
Okay, that's amazing lmao!
My biggest aspiration was to have a single yacht with a helipad, car, and garage for another smaller boat and jetty.
This guy is like "nope, another yacht for the helipad"
But I am watching that culture to see if anyone has solved all of this in an enticing way.
Yeah, it’s called a rental.
Nice! What PR pros can learn from Jeff Bezos’ curt communications style
https://www.prweek.com/article/1722976/nice-pr-pros-learn-je...
The two options are dismantle the masts for passage under the bridge(it appears a poor design to have a sailing ship with a mast that can not easily be repaired) or dismantle and reassemble the bridge and you can bet that Bezos is paying the city of Rotterdam to preform this passage action.
But as you can tell from the fervor of accusations here "Jeff Bezos pays the city of Rotterdam to temporarily dismantle the De Hef bridge for passage of his new superyacht" does not make a good headline.
edit: here is a better article.
https://observer.com/2022/02/jeff-bezos-dismantle-dutch-brid...