Photos of massive luxury yacht in local harbor spark outrage: 'Obscene'

If you live in a coastal town, seeing a luxury yacht coast into a port can be a real disappointment.

A spectator of one such yacht in Canada posted about its irritating presence in r/VictoriaBC.

"Basically floating middle fingers with sails." — Photo Credit: Reddit

Eagle-eyed Redditors in the comments identified the ship as the Seahawk, which is owned by businessman Adam Alpert. Superyacht Fan reported that it cost $35 million and has an annual running cost of $3.5 million.

According to Boat International, Alpert used to be the owner and vice president of BioTek Instruments. After he retired in 2018, however, he wanted to explore the world and give back with his wife. Alpert decided against buying a private jet and opted for a superyacht.

"This is not just check writing, which is something we've done a lot of over the years," Alpert told Boat International. "The goal is to become actively involved in the charity work that's supported, close-up and personal."

Since getting the yacht, Alpert and Gisela, his wife, have traveled around the globe to many places. While the ship has helped the couple help others, however, it comes at a cost to our environment.

A 2024 paper by Oxfam studied 23 yachts owned by billionaires. It estimated that the annual carbon footprint of each ship was 5,672 tons. An average person would need about 860 years to emit the same amount of pollution.

Superyachts aren't jets, but they still have the potential to create an unhealthy environment. The emissions these ships release could make people develop eczema, asthma, or dementia.

If Alpert switched to another vessel, he could do a lot more to help the people around him.

A few people were disappointed in the comments to see the yacht as well.