It has been little under two years since Jeff Bezos rocketed into space among his Blue Origin flight crew, an eleven-minute whirlwind that he described as the “best day ever.” However, recent sea-trial sightings of an Oceanco-made 127m-long yacht (originally known as ‘Y721’ but now dubbed ‘Koru’), which was reportedly commissioned by Bezos, suggests that the Amazon billionaire is temporarily swapping his sojourns to the outer atmosphere for something a little closer to earth.
‘Koru’, a spiral symbol in Māori culture that refers to the constant movement of life and its ability to remain the same, made its debut appearance last summer, at Oceanco’s Alblasserdam shipyard, before being docked in Rotterdam. However, the vessel has recently been spotted leaving The Netherlands for the North Sea to test itself on the waters, with rumours saying that this will be the final stage before its delivery to Bezos.
As things currently stand, ‘Sea Cloud’, originally designed by Cox & Stevens and 110m in length, takes the title of the largest yacht in the world, but, once it’s delivered later this year, ‘Koru’ will clinch top billing by 17m, a statement feat for a statement-making magnate who’s no stranger to crowning lists and rankings.
The boat, which has a trio of 70m-high masts, hasn’t experienced the warmest of welcomes, as when reports were leaked that Oceanco requested that the Rotterdam government dismantle Koningshavenbrug, a historically significant bridge, in order to get the ‘Y721’ to the open seas, locals threatened to pitch rotten eggs at the mega-vehicle in protest. (The petition was declined, with the boat moving to another shipyard.)
In terms of its look and style, a design team is still to be announced, but the yacht currently lays claim to a classic exterior, a black hull and white trimmings, with video footage – captured by Dutch Yachting – indicating that the aft deck will feature a large pool, as well as multiple other areas for all-day lounging. A shadow yacht, with roughly half the dimensions, will showcase amenities such as jet skis and helipads.
There’s been some speculation that ‘Koru’, which is said to use green technology and whose sails can be controlled by one person rather than a multi-staff team, will have an annual operations cost of approximately $25m, which will go on top of the already astronomical buying price of $500m – however, for someone with a net worth of around $117bn, such money for such a prime purchase is only a drop in the ocean.
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