Jeff Bezos might want to start accepting packages on his 417-foot superyacht as it’s becoming increasingly clear the ship isn’t much good for transporting the ultra-wealthy into the most luxurious ports. Pictures and live data show the Amazon founder has had to park his ship next to an oil tanker as it lingers in a South Florida port.
Yachting blog Luxury Launches first reported on pics from Instagram showing the megayacht Koru made its way to the U.S. and docked in Port Everglades in Florida. It reached its port of call from the Mediterranean last week, but it has had to moor off two slips occupied by similarly-sized tankers rather than pal around with the other large sailing ships on the rich side of town. According to the latest data from Marine Traffic, it is huddled on a pier occupied by the oil tanker Hafnia Kallang and chemical tanker STI Texas City.
The $500 million megayacht reportedly will not fit in the port’s tall ship space that can only cater to vessels up to 400 feet in length, according to Luxury Launches. The port does facilitate much larger vessels, including 1,000+-foot cruise ships from specialized terminals, but Bezos’ massive ship that should have been named “Compensation” occupies an awkward position because of its obscene size.
Mooring Koru in that space isn’t exactly cheap, but for a centi-billionaire like Bezos eating the rates for Lay-in vessels on ships exceeding 400 lineal feet is a rounding error. The outlet mentioned the bill could be close to $22,000 for 10 days of docking in-port. Bezos is already reportedly paying a mind-boggling $137,000 a day to maintain the ship. Apparently waste is one of those easy considerations considering the $75 million support yacht Abeona exists just so the founder’s fiance Lauren Sanchez can land her helicopter on it.
The irony is Koru is at home among these massive cargo carriers considering how much space Amazon occupies in worldwide shipping. The e-commerce giant is now the biggest shipper in the U.S. The European Commission has reported that global shipping makes up 3% of all the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation makes up more than 20% of all CO2 production, the second-largest sector contributing to carbon pollution.
The name “Koru” stems from the Maori symbol for growth, which seems more to do with its size rather than its regressive morals. The last big controversy with the megayacht—other than it being built in the first place—was when the city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands dismantled its Koningshaven bridge to help get the ship out of port.