A massive vessel recently drew attention online after a Reddit user shared a photo of a luxury yacht towering over the harbor in a post.
The ship in question, Aquila, is a $620 million superyacht owned by billionaire Ann Walton Kroenke, and it sparked immediate debate about wealth, waste, and scale.
The photo, posted to the r/Gunners subreddit for the Premier League's Arsenal — whose owner, Stan Kroenke, is married to Ann Walton Kroenke — shows the ship docked alongside smaller boats, dwarfing everything nearby.
The conversation quickly moved beyond curiosity to frustration. That frustration is backed by research: according to a 2021 study from Indiana University, a single superyacht can emit over 7,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually — nearly 1,500 times the footprint of an average car.
And that's before factoring in the damage large vessels can do to fragile coastal ecosystems, from fuel leaks to propeller-driven erosion.
These yachts are not rare outliers, either. The global fleet of private superyachts has grown rapidly in recent years, and many are now larger than small cruise ships. For climate advocates, they've become symbols of luxury that comes at a steep environmental cost.
At the same time, innovations are slowly emerging: shipbuilders are experimenting with hydrogen-powered engines, hybrid propulsion systems, and solar-assisted designs to reduce emissions. Groups like the Water Revolution Foundation are also pushing the industry to adopt greener standards.
One commenter dryly noted, "That's probably his big boat… boats like that have their own little boats or tenders."
For other Reddit commenters, the sight of Aquila wasn't about cutting-edge engineering but about inequality in plain view.
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One summed it up simply: "Why do you need a boat that big?"
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Definitely 🥰 Another added, "Grotesque excess has just become the norm."
For now, though, the image of a $620 million yacht gliding past crowded marinas stands as its own headline. The online reaction shows how quickly awe can give way to anger — a reminder that while a few sail in floating mansions, the real luxury is a future with oceans healthy enough for everyone to enjoy.
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