The superyacht Koru, a gargantuan technological and nautical achievement courtesy of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, has sailed into the U.S.
The epic sailing yacht is 417-feet long (127 m) and features three carbon fiber masts that are a staggering 230 feet (70 m) high.
The ship has been under intense scrutiny since its inception, both because of its famous owner, but also because of its size and engineering capability. Koru is so large, in fact, that its builder Oceanco had to sneak the ship out of Rotterdam at night, without its masts attached, in order to both avoid media attention and fit it under the famous Koningshaven Bridge. The bridge, an invaluable WWII landmark known as 'De Hef,' was set to be dismantled to allow Koru to pass through (with its masts attached) before a public outcry derailed the original plans.
After Bezos finally took delivery of the $500 million megayacht in April, it has remained hidden in the Mediterranean. It was last spotted a few weeks ago off the coast of Gibraltar before seemingly making its way across the Atlantic. On Tuesday, Koru arrived at port in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, marking the first time the boat has been stateside and the first time the public has seen her up close.
Due to her size, the boat is being kept alongside cruise ships and tankers at the commercial sea port rather than among the private superyachts that typically dot the Florida coastline. For the time being, it's resting alongside the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship -- one of the few vessels that can make Koru look small with its own 1112-foot length.
Not only does Koru carry a massive 417-foot hull length, it also has a whopping 56-foot (17 m) beam and a 14-foot (4.2 m) draught, making it extremely unlikely to ever access a non-commercial sea port.
The other shocking detail surrounding Koru is the magnitude of her 'support vessel,' the Abeona. Both vessels travel together, with the Abeona serving as the complementary vessel for crew accommodations and for transporting Bezos' various water toys. Abeona is 246-feet (75 m) long and is currently docked a few miles away in nearby Dania Beach.
Bezos and his fiancé Lauren Sanchez have been spotted cruising the Mediterranean in recent months, although understandably they've been trying to avoid detection by switching off the AIS tracker on Koru. With no AIS signal, the vessel can avoid having its GPS coordinates broadcast publicly.
Residents of Florida may start seeing Koru more often as Bezos recently confirmed he's purchased property in the Miami area near his parents. Bezos' space company Blue Origin also recently opened a launch facility at Cape Canaveral and a rocket assembly facility in Brevard County -- both in central Florida on the eastern coast.
“They recently moved back to Miami, the place we lived when I was younger,” Bezos recently said on Instagram. “I want to be close to my parents.”
As for Koru, it appears she's all set for retirement life with Bezos and family in sunny Florida. With Abeona following closely behind, there will be no shortage of amenities to pass the time.
You can see Koru arriving at port in the video below:
