Before a Fiji court: Can the U.S. seize a Russian yacht in the South Pacific?

Boat captain Emosi Dawai looks at the super-yacht Amadea where it is docked at the Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji, on April 13, 2022. The super-yacht that American authorities say is owned by a Russian oligarch previously sanctioned for alleged money laundering has been seized by law enforcement in Fiji, the U.S. Justice Department announced May 5. (Leon Lord/AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — At Lautoka harbor in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane region, five U.S. federal agents boarded the Russian-owned Amadea, a luxurious superyacht the length of a football field.

"They want to take 20 crew and sail east!" the ship's captain wrote in a frantic May 5 WhatsApp message to lawyer Feizal Haniff, who represents the company that legally owns the superyacht.