Rotterdam bridge to be dismantled for Oceanco's 127m sailing yacht Y721

Re:Rotterdam bridge to be dismantled for Oceanco's 127m sail... by rob74 on Wednesday February 02, 2022 @08:58AM (#30177547)

What sounds a bit ridiculous is that they apparently are only noticing this problem now - I mean, they knew the dimensions of the yacht when they accepted the order to build it, but they waited until it's almost finished to say "oops, we have this huge almost finished yacht worth $$$$$$ and we can't deliver it to the customer unless you dismantle a bridge"?! And the municipality, out of the goodness of their hearts, will probably use taxpayer money instead of billing the shipbuilder for it?

What's even more puzzling is that the problem is only with the masts, and it's apparently not possible to detach the masts and reattach them later? If I were Jeff Bezos, I would be worried about what this means for future repairs to the yacht...

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Re:Rotterdam bridge to be dismantled for Oceanco's 127m sail... by chucksta on Wednesday February 02, 2022 @11:40AM (#30179931)

This is common for large items, all kinds of products need special permits to move them due to their size.

I'm sure they knew, and had a mitigation plan in place. Almost sounds like there weren't a lot of options.. "this is such a large project that there are hardly any locations where this work is finished."

And even if the municipality were to pay for it "Rotterdam has also been declared the maritime capital of Europe. Shipbuilding and activity within that sector are therefore an important pillar for the municipality." Seems like a fee they would be willing to pay to hold that title, or would be required for it. How is it any different than a state subsidizing a business district to generate jobs and taxes?

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Re:Rotterdam bridge to be dismantled for Oceanco's 127m sail... by unmole on Wednesday February 02, 2022 @09:11AM (#30177754)

> will probably use taxpayer money instead of billing the shipbuilder for it?

No, Bezos is paying for it.

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Re:Rotterdam bridge to be dismantled for Oceanco's 127m sail... by throwaway0a5e on Wednesday February 02, 2022 @09:12AM (#30177755)

They knew the issue when they got the order. They probably ran it by the city informally then. Anyone routinely engaged in this kind of heavy industry is going to have an understanding of the city's disposition to these sorts of things and know who they need to run these things by. Now that all the details have been tentatively agreed on they're formally asking.

Alternatively, it may have been a case of "if we get permission great, if we don't then we'll install the masts elsewhere for an extra several mil."

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