Massive superyacht spotted near popular harbor fuels fierce backlash: 'What a waste of money'

Yachts and superyachts tend to catch hefty backlash online for their excessive displays of wealth and capacity to harm the planet. 

A Reddit post gained traction online, with the original poster sharing a photo of a superyacht to the r/NorthVancouver subreddit, asking what the large ship was and who it belonged to. 

Superyachts are essentially massive yachts. They're defined by Bloomberg as luxury motorized boats over 100 feet long. 

A study published in Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy found that the top 1% produce over 100 times more carbon emissions than the poorest 10%. "Among the many possessions of billionaires, large 'superyachts' are by far the largest producers of greenhouse gases," the study stated.

The superyacht in the Reddit post is likely AV Yacht, a 321-foot-long superyacht built by Blohm & Voss GmbH, a German yacht builder. According to SuperYacht Times: "In the world rankings for largest yachts, [AV] is listed at number 96. She is the 5th-largest yacht built by Blohm & Voss GmbH."

Other superyachts have gone viral, inciting anger among viewers who see the vessels as boastful and tacky. A $300 million superyacht recently gained attention for not only being a waste of money and fuel but also having a questionable aesthetic. Another superyacht, this one estimated at $590 million, was seen being seized by authorities in Italy. Responses to both of these ships veer negatively.

Another reason these yachts create so much damage — such as dumping fuel and waste into the sea — and outrage is because the people who own them tend to own multiple. Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are examples of multiple superyacht owners.

Some companies have created more sustainable alternatives to the typical megayacht. For example, Silent Yachts, an Austrian company, uses solar power to run the ships.

Responses to AV Yacht were similar to responses to other superyachts. 

One person commented, "What a waste of money those things are."

Someone else angrily added, "An ostentatious display of laundered stolen money/wealth taken from others."

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