Florida car owners look on as captain tries to squeeze $275M superyacht through unforgiving bridge in nerve-wracking moment

Florida car owners looked on as a captain tried to squeeze his $275 million luxury superyacht through a tight gap at an unforgiving bridge.

Drivers near the SE 17th Street Causeway Bridge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, looked on as the huge superyacht attempted to get through the gap.

The yacht in question was Feadship’s Ulysses, and the craft was not a small vessel by any means.

It is little surprise that onlookers held their breath as the ship attempted to navigate the tricky bridge.

How big was the Ulysses superyacht?

Images shared by Triton News show just how big the luxury superyacht was.

The vessel is a staggering 337ft/103m long, making it longer than a football field.

That meant this bridge opening, which should have been quite routine, ended up being a precise manoeuvre that had everyone in the area transfixed.

The yacht crept towards the open bridge, doing so as slowly as possible without coming to a stop.

It is easy to see why so many described the way the yacht navigated the bridge as ‘millimeter perfect.’

Tiny adjustments were spotted by those watching on the shore.

Any slight miscalculation could have seen the luxury yacht crash into the side of the bridge.

Where was the giant ship heading to in Florida?

According to Triton News, the yacht was attempting to reach the 17th Street Yacht Basin at the Hilton Marina.

Locals say that this part of the journey has always been a tight spot for large yachts.

However, this particular ship seemed to take things up a gear.

With a beam of more than 14 metres, it was certainly one of the biggest yachts to come through the bridge.

Top-down angles show how tight it was for the Ulysses to navigate the bridge.

Ford Lauderdale is well used to seeing large luxury vessels, although perhaps not to this size.

While the size of the vessel didn’t help, the bridge itself isn’t an easy one to navigate at the best of times.

The 17th Street Causeway Bridge in Florida is a well-known ‘choke point’

The bridge is officially titled the Caly E. Shaw Memorial Bridge.

Despite the size of the Ulysses, it is known to be a choke point by captains.

The bridge, located on the Intracoastal route, was rebuilt a few years ago, and the channel around it was widened.

However, the usable water space is much smaller due to the bridge’s existence.

That explains why it is so stressful for ship captains to navigate through the tight channel.

Even the most experienced sailors will treat this Florida bridge with a fair bit of caution.

It is actually the same location where Frank Fertitta III’s superyacht Viva got wedged back in 2024.

So it is very much a known hot spot, and one that sailors have to treat with the utmost caution.