Back in February, we reported that the historic Rotterdam bridge, known as "Koningshavenbrug De Hef" in the Netherlands might be dismantled just so former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos" yacht can pass into the open sea. The vessel was being built by Oceano in the city of Alblasserdam but it could not sail into the open sea because its central section is too tall at its maximum height to pass under the said bridge.
As such, Jeff Bezos wanted the bridge to be dismantled so his vessel could pass through and then be rebuilt, with him footing the bill. The only time that the Rotterdam bridge was partly demolished in the past was due to German bombardment in the Second World War, back in 1940. Although it initially seemed that city officials would agree to the demand, the plan has been now been shelved due to massive public backlash.
According to Dutch news outlet Trouw (via Insider), Oceano has withdrawn its request to dismantle the bridge, seemingly due to major criticism and protests from the locals. The outlet was able to procure some official city documents which indicated that Oceano had not anticipated the negative feedback it immediately received and that its "shipyard employees feel threatened and the company fears vandalism".
Indeed, locals had already started to organize a protest to throw rotten eggs at the yacht if it passed the bridge and had also called out Bezos for being a "megalomaniac billionaire".
It"s unclear how Oceano will take the vessel out to sea now but one possibility includes partially completing its construction at the current shipyard and then transporting it to a shipyard that has more direct access to the sea in order to complete it. According to some estimates, Jeff Bezos" superyacht reportedly costs $500 million to build.
Although city officials have not stated that they will never grant a permit to dismantle the bridge, it"s clear that Oceano does not want to go through with that process anymore anyway.