Just because superyachts create 1,500 times more carbon than the average family car doesn’t mean they can’t be romantic. As of this week, Jeff Bezos owns perhaps the largest masted boat in the world. The glimmering wooden figurehead on its bow has been noted for its resemblance to the Amazon founder’s girlfriend, now fiancée, T.V. personality Lauren Sánchez.
Bezos first commissioned Dutch shipbuilder Oceanco for the boat five years ago, according to Daily Mail. Oceanco constructed the 416-foot vessel in Rotterdam’s port of Zwijndrecht. The $500-million undertaking made headlines last year when Bezos offered to dismantle and rebuild the city’s 100-year-old De Hef bridge so his forthcoming massive ship could make it past its low clearance upon completion. Residents threatened to egg him. Oceanco moved the project, transporting the yacht without its tall masts.
Good morning middle class, while you are worried about your job security this year, Jeff Bezos got delivery of his new yacht “Koru”, which is world’s largest sailing yacht and took $ 500M to build. It has got a mermaid on the bow, which looks like his girlfriend Lauren Sánchez. pic.twitter.com/Hr6pfa0RGl
— Sinbad (@SinbadJahazi) May 21, 2023
Now complete, the ship is named Koru, the Māori word for “loop,” or new beginnings. Paparazzi spotted Koru making sea trials this February, stunning hood ornament in tow, replete with a pendant also resembling the Māori symbol for the boat’s name. The gowned goddess’s resemblance to Bezos’s beloved “alive girl” echoes classical, feminine elements of her beauty like ample lips, hair, and bosom. Oceanco has not commented on who crafted the sculpture, and if it truly depicts Sanchez.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are seen going to Chiringuito Casa Jondal on May 17, 2023 in Ibiza, Spain. Photo: MEGA/GC Images.
Bezos and Sanchez were spotted aboard the Koru for the first time this week off the coast of Mallorca, following its maiden voyage in April from the Netherlands to Spain via Gibraltar.
The Koru boasts an additional submarine, 250-foot support boat with helipad, on-board supercar and speedboat collection, and interiors inspired by former Fox CEO Barry Diller’s own yacht. While Bezos and Sanchez take the blue-and-gold-painted Koru to Cannes Film Festival and beyond, the media is debating whether it’s now the world’s largest sailing vessel. Maintenance will cost Bezos $25 million a year from the $124 billion fortune he’s pledged to charity.
