Jeff Bezos, the second-richest man in the world, will soon be the owner of a $500 million newly-constructed mega yacht in the Netherlands. While there is not a lot of information about the super yacht, there are a few facts that can be gleaned from the ship manufacturer’s website and also several media publications. However, what is confirmed is that this yacht is supposed to be 417 feet long (127 meters), have several decks, and feature three gigantic black masts

The ship is called the Y721 and it is reportedly made by Oceanco, a custom ship builder that produces some of the world’s largest and most luxurious boats. The company is owned by Omani billionaire businessman, Mohammed Al Barwani, and is based in the Netherlands. According to the luxury magazine Robb Report, this uber-luxurious boat is expected to be the world’s largest sailing yacht when completed.

As superyachts go, the Y721 is extremely large. At 417 feet, it is one of the largest sailing yachts ever built in the Netherlands, according to Time Magazine. It is so colossal that for it to sail out of the harbor to go to the ocean, it has to pass by an iconic Dutch steel bridge, which has a center part that can be removed so the vessel can pass through safely. This bridge, known as De Hef (literally translated as The Lift) is a lift bridge that can raise 130 feet in the air, which is still not high enough to accommodate the yacht’s three masts. Additionally, its height makes it unsafe for a helicopter to land, so Bezos has reportedly commissioned a support yacht with a helipad to travel alongside the titanic cruiser (via Time).

The 246-foot shadow yacht known as the YS7512 will be the base for the Amazon billionaire’s helipad, but it will also feature meeting spaces, and storage for his jets skis, water toys, and snorkeling and diving gear. It can accommodate up to 45 crew and guests (via Architectural Digest).

In his book, “Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire,” the businessman refers to his vessel as being “one of the finest sailing yachts in existence.” Although this luxury cruiser will almost certainly have fineries fit for a business mogul like Bezos, it is also said to be environmentally friendly. Oceanco based the blueprint on its award-winning, sustainable Black Pearl Yacht. The company says on its website that this ship is one of the largest and most eco-friendly sailing yachts in the world, and can cross the Atlantic without burning any fossil fuel.

It features technology such as DynaRig carbon masts, solar power, and a hybrid-propulsion system. It also has a waste-heat recovery system onboard that uses thermal energy and residual heat from exhaust gas to transform into electrical energy. While the construction of the superyacht has been reported by multiple media sources, the Daily Mail reports that Oceanco has declined to comment on whether this yacht was commissioned by Jeff Bezos.

If Bezos is on land and the superyacht isn’t docked, the Amazon owner isn’t going to have to row back to his vessel when he wants to get on board — he can simply take a short flight to the yacht’s helipad (via Bloomberg), something that would have, at one point in time, sounded very unlikely given Bezos’ mixed history with whirlybirds. He actually survived a helicopter crash back in 2003 when scouting for sites to use for his spacefaring venture Blue Origin.

Bezos was on board with the pilot and two staff members when the overloaded aircraft started to struggle after taking off. The pilot was left dodging trees and desperately trying to get the helicopter out of danger. He didn’t succeed, and eventually, the tail boom collided with a tree, causing the chopper to spin. The helicopter eventually ended up in a creek, but Bezos walked away from the incident. Recalling the crash in Fortune Magazine, Bezos quipped, “I thought, what a dumb way to die.”

Given the circumstances, it is unsurprising that Bezos allegedly hated helicopters for many years. However, his hatred of the transportation method had reportedly evaporated by 2018 and been replaced by enthusiasm. It was this switch in attitude that, according to the New York Post, alerted Amazon executives to Bezos’ affair with helicopter pilot and owner of Black Ops Aviation Lauren Sanchez. Bezos would eventually divorce his wife and the mother of his four children, MacKenzie Scott, and make his relationship with Sanchez public.

View the full article here.