A high-stakes game of cat and mouse is playing out in the high-seas as yachts owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires try to evade seizure.
Under severe sanctions announced by the US and Europe, members of the Russian elite who have “aided Putin” in his invasion of Ukraine have been warned they will have “assets frozen and property blocked from use”.
Solaris, a superyacht owned by Roman Abramovich, yesterday hit by UK sanctions, slipped out of Barcelona port on Wednesday afternoon where it was being maintained, and headed southeast.
According to ship traffic data from Marine Traffic, the £430 million vessel was most recently tracked off the coast of Sicily as it joined a scramble of Russian-owned vessels hastily leaving European ports.
The 458-ft yacht has several swimming pools, a helipad and an outdoor “beach club. It’s not even his biggest boat, an accolade that goes to the 533ft Eclipse which has a gym, a nightclub and can accommodate 62 guests and 50 crew. The Eclipse is also on the move, from the Caribbean island of St Maarten towards international waters.
Last week French authorities announced they had seized an 88-metre luxury yacht Amore Vero linked to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, who has been sanctioned by the UK, EU and US, in the port of La Ciotat.
In Italy other Russian-owned yachts, were impounded in the country’s northern ports, while there were also claims Germany had seized the Dilbar, a £450m superyacht owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov who has also been sanctioned by all three blocs.
The super-sized Dilbar includes a 25-metre swimming pool that holds an incredible 180 m³ of water, the largest pool ever to have been installed on a yacht.
Authorities in the port city of Hamburg denied it had been confiscated, but Forbes has reported that its crew were fired due to US and EU sanctions.
Meanwhile a Ukrainian mechanic in Mallorca decided to take matters in his own hands and tried to sink the 157ft Lady Anastasia, a yacht owned by the CEO of a Russian arms exporter, Alexander Mikheev, in retaliation for the invasion. Mikheev is not currently on any sanctions list.
Many oligarch’s yachts are thought to have already set sail for safer places like the Carribean. Other safe spots include the Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation with no extradition treaty with the United States.
With port authorities on the lookout for luxury yacht flight risks, an army of social media users are getting involved in the search, using Marine Traffic to track vessels owned by those on the sanctions list. There is even a hashtag: # YachtWatch.
The data shows that Titan, a £76m superyacht owned by billionaire Alexander Abramov, arrived in the Maldives last week from Turkey. Like Mikheev, Abramov does not appear on the sanctions list.
The UK authorities have not yet seized any vessels, but a Dutch cargo ship was turned away from Poole and Portsmouth this week due to concerns it might be carrying Russian-owned yachts.
Ben McInnes, harbour master at Portsmouth International Port said it had received a last-minute request to receive the ship on Wednesday afternoon.
”We had been made aware that the ship had not been allowed in to Poole, as there were questions raised whether the cargo of yachts aboard were Russian owned.
“On this basis, the Deo Velonte was not allowed in to Portsmouth, in line with UK legislation.” According to Marine Traffic, the cargo ship then docked at Cuxhaven in Germany, though it is unclear if the cargo was unloaded.
The US president, Joe Biden, said last week the US was actively working to seize oligarch’s assets including superyachts, luxury apartments and private jets, warning: “We are coming for your ill-begotten gains”.
As for what is believed to be Putin’s own yacht, Graceful, it left Germany two weeks ago and is now safely back in the Russian port of Kaliningrad.
