‘A bridge too far’: local anger at dismantling of historic bridge for Bezos boat

DutchNews, February 3, 2022, Senay Boztas

The Hef is an iconic part of Rotterdam’s skyline. Photo: elm3r via Wikimedia Commons

The Rotterdam branch of political party GroenLinks has called an emergency council debate over the fact that an iconic bridge will be temporarily taken apart to allow passage for a mega-yacht for Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos. 

The news that a section of national monument De Hef would be dismantled (and then put together again) to allow passage for the 127m long, three-masted, aluminium and steel schooner swiftly voyaged the world. 

But the story, broken on Wednesday by local broadcaster Rijnmond, sparked fury amongst history lovers, the Dutch public and some local councillors. 

GroenLinks councillor Stephan Leewis told Rijnmond that he took a dim view of the permission, particularly in the light of Amazon personnel policies and tax andregulation avoidance battles. 

‘Now, we have to break apart our beautiful listed monument?’ he reportedly said, in calling an emergency debate. ‘This really is a bridge too far.’ 

Heritage 

According to Dutch media, next week Rotterdam city council will debate the planning permission given to dismantle the middle section of the 1927 bridge, and reconstruct it – reportedly, at the cost of shipbuilder Oceanco and Bezos. 

Project leader at Rotterdam city council Marcel Walravens previously defended the decision as a pragmatic one. ‘It is about a ship with high masts which cannot pass through the bridge. The only alternative is to take out the middle section,’ he told Rijnmond. 

Walravens hoped that with proper preparation, the middle section of the bridge would only be removed for a day and pointed out the economic and jobs benefit to the region, plus the boost to its international shipbuilding reputation. 

However, some history experts were unimpressed. ‘Jobs are important, but there are limits with what you can and should do with our industrial heritage,’ said Ton Wesselink of the local history society Historisch Genootschap Roterodamum to Rijnmond. 

‘Inequality’ 

On social media, commentators also pointed out the apparent inconsistency in strict, Dutch listed building policy and the privilege apparently afforded to an American billionaire to take apart a bridge which the council had previously promised would no longer be touched. 

On social media, the story inspired humorous comment as well as outrage, particularly in the light of the bridge’s historical destruction during the 1940 Nazi bombardment. A commenter called ‘Marky Mark’ suggested: ‘Can’t we simply dismantle Jeff Bezos and have Rotterdam pass through him?’ 

Jeroen Stet commented: ‘Mega-yachts are a symbol of greed, inequality, and all that is bad about capitalism and the impact it has on the world. If you think you need something like this, it says a lot about you.’ 

Ophef 

Others pointed out that the bridge would be repaired again, and that the shipyard was a huge local employer. Meanwhile, Paul Peeters, podcast host at DutchNews.nl, noted that this was a scandal, or ophef, with a ring about it: ‘De Hef/Jeff-ophef.’ 

At 127 metres long, Bezos’ yacht is set to be the largest sailing yacht in the world when delivered at some point this year, according to Boat International. It is reportedly being moved from one shipyard to another for final fitting. 

A spokesman for Rotterdam council told DutchNews.nl. ‘The municipality of Rotterdam only gives permission to the maritime sector to take a ship to sea. The municipality does not build ships, so we have no further information about this.’

Dutch-built super yachts are being re-sold to tax haven buyers

DutchNews, November 10, 2017

The Galactica Star in Barcelona. Photo: Ralf Roletschek / roletschek.at 

Luxury yachts built in Dutch shipyards are being sold to suspect buyers around the world through tax havens, Trouw and the Financieele Dagblad reported on Friday. 

The dubious yacht transactions were revealed through an investigation being carried out into the Paradise Papers by the two Dutch newspapers . 

The documents reveal at least two instances in which the actual buyer of a Dutch-built yacht has been protected. In one case, the purchase money was obtained, the US justice department maintains, by corruption. 

The Dutch land registry, which covers fishing and inland water pleasure boats as well as housing, said that registration of luxury yachts should be made compulsory to reduce the risk that yachts can be used to cover up money laundering. 

The Paradise Papers contain information culled from legal advisor Appleby and the Estera trust office in Bermuda which came into the hands of German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and then via the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to the media worldwide. 

Appleby has been involved in the registration or management of hundreds of ships of which one hundred could be classified as super yachts: vessels of up to 150 metres in length and worth hundreds of millions of euros. 

Galactica Star

One of these is the Galactica Star (65 metres and valued at €82m) which was sold in the summer of 2013 by Dutch shipbuilder Heesen. The buyer was Speedwave 65, a company recently set in the British Virgin Islands by an individual who chose to be anonymous. 

Speedwave sold the yacht on almost immediately to another Virgin Island entity Earnshaw Associates Inc, owned by the Nigerian oil magnate Kola Aluko who allegedly obtained his money illegally. Heesen said it was unaware of the resale of the Galactica to Aluko at the time. 

Shipyards also fall under legislation aimed at preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism, like banks and trust offices They must establish the identity of the actual owner and the aim of any given transaction. 

Mutiny on the Bounty descendants to lose self-rule

Yahoo – AFP, March 19, 2015

Mutiny on the Bounty descendants to lose self-rule

Sydney (AFP) - A remote Pacific island whose residents are descendants of the swashbuckling British sailors and Tahitian women immortalised in the "Mutiny on the Bounty" movies is set to lose its right to self-rule.

Norfolk Island, 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) east of the Australian coast and settled by the descendants of Fletcher Christian and other Bounty mutineers in 1856, has governed itself since 1979.

But it is effectively bankrupt and Canberra on Thursday said it would introduce legislation next week to scrap the Australian territory's parliament.

If it passes, the island's legislative assembly will be temporarily replaced by an advisory council, before local government elections in 2016.

Personal and business tax will be introduced from July 2016, and residents will in return be able to access social security and healthcare benefits and services enjoyed by other Australians.

Australia's assistant regional development minister Jamie Briggs said the changes were long overdue and it was not sustainable to ask a community of just 1,800 to deliver local, state and federal services.

He said the infrastructure on Norfolk Island was run down, the health system not up to standard and laws out of date.

"The community overwhelmingly supports reform and is of the view that the current governance arrangements are not suitable," he said, adding that Norfolk Island was effectively in administration and reliant on Australian bailouts.

"It is diabolical -- it is quite concerning that it's been left for so long," he said.

Norfolk Island Chief Minister Lisle Snell said it was unfair to impose such a decision on the tiny outcrop, just eight kilometres long by five kilometres wide (five miles by three miles) and perched on steep cliffs above crashing surf.

"Norfolk Islanders will lose their identity, they will lose their way of life," Snell told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Most of the core population are descendants of the mutineers who set Captain William Bligh adrift from British warship the Bounty when they famously fell in love with the South Seas, and its women, in 1789.

The mutiny gained such a romantic gloss that chief mutineer Christian has been portrayed by a series of Hollywood heart-throbs over the years, including Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson.

Christian and eight other mutineers first made their home on Pitcairn Island with a group of Tahitian women, but their descendants moved nearly 6,000 kilometres to Norfolk Island in 1856 when Pitcairn became too small for them.

Queen Victoria granted them the right to settle in the abandoned former penal colony.

Indonesia to Partner With Interpol in Tackling Illegal Fishing

Jakarta Globe, Mar 02, 2015

Susi Pudjiastuti, the minister for maritime affairs and fisheries, visiting a dock
 where impounded illegal foreign fishing vessels are kept, in Kubu Raya
 district, West Kalimantan. (Antara Photo/Jessica Helena Wuysang)

Jakarta. The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry is eying a partnership with Interpol to better tackle illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.

“The ministry will partner with Interpol to catch poachers using fake taxpayer numbers, so the ministry will not be alone [in facing this challenge],” Minister Susi Pudjiastuti told reporters on Monday, as quoted by news portal Republika.co.id.

The initiative stems from the seizure of a ship named Kunlun by the Australian government, last week. The Kunlun, which had been operating under at least 10 different names and five flags since 2006, was one of three illegal fishing ships in the Southern Ocean that had been tracked down by Interpol, which facilitates international police cooperation.

Susi stressed that illegal fishing was an international crime. She also noted that the ministry had arrested boat crews that included underage workers and others without proper documentation.

“This kind of crime committed on the oceans can be used for human trafficking,” Susi said. “This is a subject for international investigation.”

Related Article:

Google joins fight against illegal fishing

Greek shipping tycoons threaten to set sail over tax privileges

Austerity-hit government has called an end to preferential tax treatment for industry built by tycoons including Aristotle Onassis

The Guardian, Helena Smith in Athens, Wednesday 26 February 2014

Greek shipowners have reacted with anger over a move to scrap preferential
tax rates for their industry. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

They are some of the richest people in Greece, the owners of the world's largest commercial fleet with bank accounts and property portfolios that, even by the standards of the super-rich, elicit awe. But in the high-risk business of trading the high seas, Greek ship-owners – in line with international maritime tradition – have also been granted special tax status on their vessels.

This week, the cash-strapped government in Athens insisted the preferential treatment – enshrined in the Greek constitution and respected by every government since the 1940s – was finally over. And shipowners are up in arms.

As it tries to steer Greece out of its worst recession on record, prime minister Antonis Samaras' fragile two-party coalition has suddenly found itself at war with the influential plutocrats who control one of the few thriving sectors of the Greek economy.

The imposition of extra taxes amounted to nothing less than a "constitutional deviation" warned Theodore Veniamis, the president of the Union of Greek Shipowners. "A negative climate has been created for any type of business investment in Greece," he said.

Samaras' conservative-dominated alliance rushed legislation through parliament, imposing a triple tax on ships managed out of Greece, as the 300-seat House held its last session before the Christmas break in December.

This week, the country's merchant marine minister said that the levy was an emergency measure that would last no longer than the next three years.

But while ordinary Greeks have been hit by a barrage of taxes since the debt-stricken nation was forced to accept international aid to avert bankruptcy, the country's famously secretive shipping community is digging in its heels.

The new tax law overturned a previous accord, signed after several months of talks last year, that had allowed ship-owners to make voluntary tax payments to help the nation's economic recovery. Most of the shipping companies run out of Athens' port of Piraeus – the industry's base in Greece – had agreed to back the voluntary scheme.

But with unemployment at a record 28%, the highest in the European Union, and worsening social and economic marginalisation, the legislation has won praise. In its fourth year of bailout funds from the EU and International Monetary Fund, Greece faces fiscal shortfalls this year and next. Samaras has refused to take further unpopular spending cuts to plug the gap.

In a rare display of concord with the government, the shadow minister for development in the radical left main opposition Syriza party told the Guardian: "It's a positive step."

Yet the strength of reaction from shippers appears to have taken the Samaras administration aback. The industry, which provides up to 200,000 jobs and sustains close to 500,000, has warned that the new tax regime could force it to move elsewhere – potentially wreaking havoc on the economy.

"The fear is that the lack of trust between the maritime community and our legislators may lead to an exodus from the Greek flag and perhaps Greece itself," warned Haralambos Fafalios, who chairs the London-based Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee.

As a pillar of the Greek economy, shipping rivals tourism in attracting foreign exchange: experts estimate it has brought over ¤140bn (£115bn) into the country in the past decade alone.

"The shipping industry is a significant contributor to Greece in terms of jobs, cash and economic activity, and it stands to lose all three if it changes the regime for attracting shipping companies to the country," said Vassilis Antoniades, managing director of the Boston Consulting Group, which recently conducted an in-depth study into the impact of shipping on the Greek economy. "To a great degree the Greek economy thrives on the shipping industry."

Since the 1960s, shipping tycoons, such as Aristotle Onassis (pictured), have established airlines, shipyards, refineries and hotels in Greece. Indicative of their pre-eminent role in a sector now worth about $660bn (£400bn), this year Greek shipowners placed a record number of orders to build new vessels in shipyards around the world, outstripping any of their global competitors.

With earnings from shipping accounting for around 7% of GDP, fears are growing that the government's step could ultimately be counter-productive – even if, in poverty-stricken Greece, many also accept that may also seem rampantly unfair.

"There are alternatives with other countries offering competitive tax regimes. People will simply register their ships elsewhere," said shipping expert David Glass, who said that the sector had been unfairly reviled. "Shipowners give a lot to this country. They've built half the hospitals on the islands. They're the ones building schools and handing out over 50,000 meals to the needy every month. People forget that."

Related Articles:

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

".... The Illuminati

One more. "Kryon, what about the Illuminati?" OK, I'll tell you, for these things are already known by many.

Everything you thought about the Illuminati of the past is correct. This was not conspiracy, but fact. However, in the light of what I just said above, it could not sustain itself in an energy where everyone talks to everyone, and has since gone dormant.

The Illuminati was based in Greece, and it started by controlling the most potent economic attribute that could manipulate the strings of commerce on the earth - shipping. Once they had control of shipping, what followed was financial markets. This, then, worked its way to insurance, world stock markets and banking. This was prevalent for decades, right up to the mid '80s.

I have a question for the elders in the room. Look back in your lifetime, dear ones. What was the stock market like when you were younger? If you remember, you will say it had incremental changes up and down, except for occasional major shifts - which, by the way, were also controlled. It was steady, up or down. It didn't vacillate wildly, with hundreds of point-shifts from month to month. It never did. That's what a controlled market looks like. Now take a look at your current stock market. Does it look controlled? It is not! It is free-wheeling and it can go wherever it is driven by normal financial activity.

This should tell you something, dear ones. The Illuminati is no longer in control. It lost in banking, in tobacco, and it's about to lose in big pharma and insurance because awareness lets people know what is controlled and what is not. Awareness of truth will trump any other energy, and integrity will win some major battles.

So, did the Illuminate die? No. They simply lost their method of control.

The Future of the Illuminati

Now, I want to tell you something that you didn't expect and something I've reported only one other time. What about all of the money that the Illuminati has? There are trillions and trillions of euro in banks, under their control, waiting. What are they going to do with it and where are they going to use it? It's still here. They're waiting.

This group is waiting for something to happen that they know is going to happen, for they see it coming as much as I do. However, I would like to tell you something that they don't expect. With awareness comes generational shift. Those in charge of this money will not always be elders. The indigos eventually will have it.

They are waiting for something to happen in Africa - the building of a new civilization, a continent that has nothing to unlearn. Once Africa is cured, once it's ready, a new civilization can be created from the ground up. Africans will be ready to learn everything about building a foundation for the most advanced civilization ever and will do it with the most modern and inventive systems available. Eventually, this new continent will even beat the economics of China.

This is the prediction and always has been, and the Illuminati's money will fund it. Did I say the Illuminati will fund it? [Kryon laugh]The Illuminati's money will fund it, but there is a difference from the past, dear ones. The ones who inherit the positions in the Illuminati will be a different consciousness. Listen, they are not suddenly going to be the ones who have the good of everyone in their hearts - hardly. They want to make money, but what they will see instead is a way to make a great deal of money through this investment. In the process, it will automatically help hundreds of thousands, and they will be at the beginning, the foundation, that builds the new Africa. The new African states of unification eventually will create a continent stronger than any of the others, and it will have one currency. The resources alone will dwarf anything in the world.

"Wow, Kryon, how long is that going to take?"

The Humans in the room control that and those listening later and reading. When you leave this room, what are you going to do? Go home, report this, rub your hands together, and wait for it to happen? It won't. For the Humans in the room and the old souls hearing and reading have got work to do, and I've told you this before. You've got work to do.

There's an alliance that you're going to have to create with one another and with another group - the young people of Earth. The youth of this earth are changing the way things work. Can you see it? You're not supposed to sit around and watch them either, because they need you, old soul.

It's time for you to align with the indigos and the concepts of the youth of the planet. Do not think for a moment that their age shows their wisdom. These two attributes are not commensurate with one another; they're not linear. These young people may be older souls than you are! Don't think that because they've got technology that you don't understand that you can't be one with them. Their technology is social networking, the very thing we are talking about, where everyone can talk to everyone. The new consciousness on the planet starts in two areas - the children and the old souls. ..."