When the public pays for a superyacht

It is not every day that the world’s largest sailing yacht turns into a stationary landmark. Yet in Trieste, a 143-meter (about 467-foot) giant of steel, glass, and carbon fiber has done precisely that.

Seized four years ago by Italian authorities, Sailing Yacht A now rests permanently along the Adriatic waterfront. Astonishingly, the $600 million vessel costs an estimated $35,000 a day to maintain, secure, and preserve in working order.

The sheer scale of that daily expense recently caught the attention of Matteo Salvini, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport. While walking along the waterfront, he paused to observe the yacht’s towering silhouette and questioned the logic of taxpayers covering the cost of sustaining such an asset, as reported by Il Piccolo.

His remarks were brief and practical, centered on the visible reality of public funds being used to maintain a privately built superyacht. – Full report