3 days ago
Not a latte room for error! £150million superyacht owned by ex-Starbucks CEO squeezes through Dutch canal with inches to spare
A luxury £150 million superyacht owned by the former Starbucks CEO has been spotted squeezing through a narrow Dutch canal with just inches to spare.
Jaw-dropping images show billionaire Howard Schultz's 254-foot vessel nearly scraping the land as it sailed through Woubrugge in the Netherlands this morning.
The huge ship, named Pi, boasts a range of over 4,500 nautical miles and onboard spa facilities, including a glass-bottomed swimming pool.
It also features its own helicopter landing pad as well as a beach club, jacuzzi, and spacious custom interiors.
Pi ranks as the 183rd biggest yacht in the world and can accommodate up to 12 guests in six cabins and a crew of 18 people.
Built by Dutch boat builder Feadship, the boat was delivered to Schultz at the 2019 Monaco Yacht Show, where it won Best Yacht in Its Class and Motor Yacht of the Year.
It is the 21st largest vessel the company has ever made and is 254 feet long and 37 feet wide.
Crew members dressed in blue uniform stood on the canal edge to guide the ship smoothly through and prevent it from bumping the side
The vessel is powered by MTU engines, which make it capable of speeds up to 18 knots.
The Woubrugsebrug, the bridge which spans over the canal in Woubrugge, was open for around 40 minutes to let Pi pass through on Wednesday morning, according to Studio Alphen.
It was reportedly heading for Alphen aan den Rijn, a city in the western Netherlands.
Pi could be seen towering over the local homes as it cruised along the water accompanied by two support vessels located at either end of the yacht.
Crew members dressed in blue uniform stood on the canal edge to guide the ship smoothly through and prevent it from bumping the side.
Schultz, 71, made most of his billion-dollar fortune thanks to Starbucks.
He is ranked by Forbes as the 209th richest person in the world, with a net worth of £3.68bn.
The businessman bought the coffee chain in the 1980s.
He is credited as Starbucks' founder despite the company being started in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker at Seattle's Pike Place Market.
Back then, Starbucks was merely a coffee bean store but it became a full-fledged cafe after Schultz became involved.
Later he transformed it into the international coffee shop brand.
He served as the chief executive officer from 1986 to 2000 and returned during the financial crisis of 2007-08.
It comes after Pi was spotted entering Cornwall's Falmouth harbour before moving to Pendennis Shipyard under go work in 2022.
Pendennis Shipyard is one of the world's leading superyacht refit and custom build facilities.
The site employs over 450 skilled tradespeople and has completed more than 300 refit projects and 30 custom-made build projects on some of the most iconic yachts in the world.
