Former CEO of Amazon.com Inc Jeff Bezos has received severe criticism after a historic Rotterdam bridge is reportedly going to be partially dismantled for Bezos’ luxurious megayacht to pass under it.

In a Facebook group event, as many as 3,000 have vowed to attend the passing of the ship to pelt rotten eggs at the half-billion-dollar vessel.

Bezos commissioned Oceanco to build the yacht, Y721, which is currently getting its finishing touches at the Dutch shipbuilding city of Alblasserdam upriver from Rotterdam.

The ship, when completed, will be 127 metres long and will cost almost US$500mil to make, and will be ranked as the largest private vessel in the world.

However, for the vessel to hit the ocean, it will have to navigate out of the straits, and the route to the ocean includes the Koningshavenbrug vertical lift bridge, which is also known as De Hef. The yacht requires a massive 40m ground clearance. 

The 144-year-old bridge was built back in 1877 over the river Maas to connect the island of Noordereiland with Rotterdam.

The bridge was a part of the railroad but in 1993, the authorities built another railroad to reduce the load over the bridge. Now, the bridge stands as a historic monument.

Back in 2017, the city council repaired the bridge with a promise that the bridge will remain in place for the future, but recent development has jeopardized the promise. This has outraged the citizens of Rotterdam.

Pablo Strörmann, 40, invited the Facebook community to join him as he planned to showcase his displeasure against the current threat to the bridge.

“Rotterdam was built from the rubble by Rotterdammers and we don’t just take it apart for the phallus symbol of a megalomaniac billionaire. Not without a fight,” he wrote on Facebook.

The event has garnered the attention of 3,000 people who have marked the event as “going” and another 10,000 people who are “interested”.

The authorities do not have any qualms concerning the whims of the billionaire as they see the project as an opportunity to generate revenue.

“From an economic perspective and maintaining employment, the municipality considers this a very important project. In addition, Rotterdam has also been declared the maritime capital of Europe. Shipbuilding and activity within that sector are therefore an important pillar of the municipality,” said municipal project leader Marcel Walravens.

However, the authorities have not yet made their official announcement of the project.

 - dpa