The port of Naples, Italy, is hunting down the boats of billionaires, too big to dock. Being super rich, owning a super-yacht… can be super frustrating sometimes!
You know THE Symphony ? It is the boat of Bernard Arnault, the boss of LVMH: 101m long (the equivalent of a football field), six bridges, an elevator, a swimming pool with a transparent bottom, a golf driving range, an open cinema air and a helicopter pad… Capacity: 16 guests, 28 crew members.
Saturday, June 24, this behemoth asks to enter the port and dock on the pier reserved for VIPs, the Mergellina, as it does regularly. But this time, it’s a slap. The port authorities refuse. Too long, too wide, too complicated. And what’s more, in an already saturated marina, it would have taken up four berths on its own. In short, the Symphony is asked to turn around.
No boats longer than 75 meters
This year, the rules have changed. In Naples, boats over 75 meters are no longer welcome, it is a matter of safety. The hydrofoils that make the connection to the Aeolian Islands for the general public also depart from the quay of Mergellina. If a giant yacht obstructs their visibility, they risk collision.
Another billionaire experienced the same misadventure, Barry Diller, husband of designer Diane von Fürstenber. His three-master, eosone of the largest private sailboats in the world, was also refused.
However, this regulation is not unanimous. Because for 20 years, it had never been a problem. One of the administrators of the Mergellina pier worries about the economic repercussions. He is questioned by THE Corriere del mezzogiorno : “The occupants of these yachts arrive by private plane, they need services… this year alone, depriving ourselves of them will make us lose 50 to 100,000 euros a day. Over a season, several million“. But Naples needs their money, their notoriety and their liters of fuel.
“Tourism is our oile”, says Massimo Luise. The expression may seem poorly chosen. It is true that the world of luxury yachting has not yet made its energy transition. Evidenced by the site survey Yacht CO₂ tracker on the overconsumption of diesel Symphonywhose budget is 7,500 times that of an average Frenchman last September.
A regional capital that needs a port to match
Far from these environmental considerations, the history of the port of Naples has even become a political subject. The port of Naples is paying for the inertia of the public authorities, the lack of investment and modernization, which the representative of Forza Italia in Campania denounces. “We still haven’t understood that Naples is a regional capital and that as such it deserves a port that lives up to it“, explains Fulvio Martusciello. Billionaires complaining it’s not good for our image. These boats cannot prefer Capri, Malta, Spain or France to us.” It is also a matter of pride.