Jeff Bezos’ 127m superyacht Koru arrives in the US

Koru, the record-breaking 127m sailing yacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 59, has arrived in the United States for the first time.

Photos circulating online show the $500m titan moored in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But the yacht is so large that it is being kept alongside cruise ships and oil tankers at a busy seaport, rather than with other superyachts, as Florida’s marinas typically cannot accommodate a yacht of this size.

One nearby marina told the Daily Mail it “might be doable” but warned that Koru‘s 17m beam and 4.2m draft would make it a huge challenge.

EXCLUSIVE: Jeff Bezos' 417-foot superyacht Koru arrives in US and is moored alongside cruise ship at Ft. Lauderdale seaport instead of other yachts because of its massive size https://t.co/MadmV4o5gQ pic.twitter.com/pKOMF5NxyC

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) November 28, 2023

The extravagant three-masted Oceanco schooner was snapped docked at Port Everglades, next to the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship. Meanwhile, Abeona — the ship’s dedicated support vessel — is docked at Dania Beach 6km away. The 75-metre Abeona, built by Damen Yachting, comes complete with a helipad and an array of water toys.

It’s understood that Koru — named after the Maori word for ‘new beginnings‘ — arrived in Florida late last Wednesday evening after departing from Gibraltar two weeks prior.

Tycoon Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez have been cruising the Med in recent months, including stops in Sardinia, the Italian town of Portofino, and several stops around Croatia.

Media outlets noted that Koru‘s AIS tracker had been switched off for an extended period throughout the summer, potentially a bid by Bezos to avoid attention.

Jeff Bezos' Koru sailing yacht has finally arrived in the US, and it's so enormous that it did not fit next to other superyachts at the Port of Everglades. The $500 million vessel was finally docked next to gigantic oil tankers at the South Florida seaport https://t.co/WBccQLq4LR

— Nancy Dahlberg (@ndahlberg) November 27, 2023

However, attempts at hiding the goliath — which has estimated running costs of $25m per year — do not seem to have worked.

Amazon boss Bezos — the third richest person in the world with a $170bn fortune – is not currently on board but is expected to use the vessel over the holidays. Bezos has recently confirmed a move from Seattle to the Miami area in Florida, near where his parents live and where his space firm Blue Origin is based.

The design for 3,300GT Koru is based on Black Pearl, built in 2018 and the largest DynaRig sailing yacht in the world.

The steel and aluminium superyacht Koru underwent sea trials in the North Sea in February this year. A video captured by Dutch Yachting shows the vessel being towed out of Rotterdam before cruising on calm waters in the misty morning air.

The yacht was eventually delivered in April, when it made its maiden voyage from the Netherlands to Gibraltar. 

Oceanco had remained tight-lipped about Koru while it was under construction, but never denied that Bezos was the vessel’s owner, sending superyacht spotters into a frenzy when the vessel emerged from the sheds in 2022 under the cover of darkness.