roman putin yacht

See inside President Vladimir Putin's opulent $100 million superyacht

• Russian President Vladimir Putin spent $32 million refitting a superyacht, a new report suggests.
• The yacht, called Graceful, was renovated while Russian soldiers were fighting in Ukraine.
• Photos of the vessel were shared by an investigation from dissident Alexei Navalny's team.

While his troops flooded into Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin was spending millions of dollars on an opulent refit of one of his superyachts, according to an investigation from opposition leader Alexei Navalny's team.

The imprisoned anti-corruption campaigner's team released plans for the yacht called Graceful and said to belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin, that show a helipad, a sauna, an indoor swimming pool that can convert into a dancefloor, and an elaborate dining room with seating for 12 people.

Photos of the lavishly decorated interior also show marble bathrooms, champagne-colored carpets that cost as much as $88,000, and lavish bedrooms containing beds worth around $34,000.

The investigation also shared pictures of an elegant bookcase that it said contained a photo album of Saint Petersburg, a Russian-German dictionary, and a book about former Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin, assassinated in Ukraine in 1911.

The total cost of the works came to $32 million, according to the investigation.

"Half of the country is forced to raise money for underwear and socks for mobilized soldiers and to make trench candles, while the person who unleashed this war spends three billion roubles just on repairs and purchases for his yacht," the report says.

The 269-foot yacht, which left Hamburg, Germany , just before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is worth around $100 million.

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The Navalny team also published an email from January 2022 to the managers of the Blohm & Voss shipyard, which says that the "owner of Graceful is not happy with refit execution."

"They are dissatisfied with delays in construction schedule," it continues, before adding that the "owners wish to remove Graceful on 01 of February to Russian Federation to complete refit."

The message also mentions concerns about potential delays caused by rising COVID-19 cases and asks the shipbuilders to "accelerate all works which may interfere with Graceful sailing out on 01 February."

The ship was finally seen departing Hamburg on February 7 as it made its way to Kaliningrad, Russia.

The vessel has been under investigation by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control since last year.

"OFAC is identifying Russia-flagged Graceful and Cayman Islands-flagged Olympia, as blocked property in which President Vladimir Putin has an interest," the US Treasury website said in a June 2022 press release.

"While the leader of Russia, Putin has taken numerous trips on these yachts, including a 2021 trip in the Black Sea where he was joined by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the OFAC-designated corrupt ruler of Belarus, who has supported Russia's war against Ukraine," it adds.

The Navalny team also highlighted a phone shown in one of the photographs of an office on the yacht in which a "Prestige-CB" telephone can be seen.

The report says that these phones, which have no buttons and are decorated with the Russian coat of arms, are used for "top secret" state communications and cannot be bought by the general public. It adds that Putin has the same phone in all of his offices.

The Russian president is reportedly also the owner of the 450-foot, $700 million Scheherazade , one of the largest yachts in the world. The superyacht was impounded in an Italian port last year due to its connections to the Russian government.

Putin is also thought to be the owner of a smaller, Cayman Islands-flagged yacht called Olympia, a gift from the billionaire Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich.

Watch: Inside Putin's secret bunker and billion-dollar palace

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Roman Abramovich’s $1bn five-yacht fleet revealed

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Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich owns or is linked to a collection of five yachts estimated to be worth almost $1bn, including several vessels whose ownership remained secret until this week.

A Financial Times investigation into the billionaire’s assets has lifted the veil of secrecy he maintains over his wealth, even after the UK and EU imposed sanctions on him following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for his allegedly close relationship with President Vladimir Putin.

Authorities in the UK and EU are attempting to identify all of the assets owned by sanctioned oligarchs. Abramovich was already widely reported to be the owner of Solaris and Eclipse — worth $474mn and $437mn, respectively, according to yacht data service VesselsValue. But the FT revealed this week that he also owns Halo and Garçon, which are both moored in Antigua.

The Antiguan government was unaware of the ownership of the boats docked on the island before inquiries from the FT, highlighting the scale of the challenge UK and EU authorities face in enforcing sanctions.

Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank said governments, banks and other institutions trying to enforce sanctions had to navigate a world where “ownership trails run cold and morph into a haze of front companies, nominees and cut-outs”.

Halo and Garçon are valued at $38mn and $20mn, respectively, and are now at risk of being seized.

In a letter to the British high commissioner to Barbados regarding the yachts, Antiguan minister of foreign affairs Paul Chet Greene said the island would “provide full assistance to the government of the United Kingdom” if it receives a request under the two nations’ Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

The letter noted that Antigua had requested information on the company that owns the two boats — British Virgin Islands-registered Wenham Overseas Limited — after “persistent allegations by the Financial Times that the vessels could be owned by Mr Roman Abramovich”.

In response, the British high commission provided Antiguan authorities with a letter, seen by the FT, “from the Financial Investigation Agency of the British Virgin Islands which states the beneficial owner of Wenham Overseas Ltd is Roman Abramovich”.

The letter also shows the billionaire’s address in Switzerland is listed simply as “Immeuble, Gatzby Le Magnifique”, which translates as “The Great Gatsby Building”.

Keatinge described the UK’s ability to demand full ownership information of companies registered in any of its overseas territories or crown dependencies as its “most powerful global weapon” in combating financial secrecy.

However, he asked: “How much is that weapon being used?”

A person with knowledge of Abramovich’s boat collection and documents seen by the FT indicate that the oligarch may also still be the owner of Sussurro, the first yacht he bought in 1998, despite reports he had given it to an ex-wife in a divorce.

The person who correctly identified the two yachts in Antigua as belonging to Abramovich told the FT the oligarch still owned Sussurro.

The vessel’s owner is listed in maritime registers as Vesuvius International Limited in the British Virgin Islands. BVI documents show this company was deregistered there in 2017. Another Vesuvius International was registered in Jersey the same year.

The owner of Jersey-based Vesuvius International is listed as Wotton Overseas Holdings Limited. This entity — which shifted from the BVI to Jersey in 2017 — is also the owner through a subsidiary of a helicopter that has been photographed landing on Abramovich’s Solaris several times.

Maritime tracking services show Sussurro, which means “whisper” in Italian and is valued at $11mn, is moored in La Ciotat in the south of France — the same port where the French government last month seized a $116mn superyacht belonging to a company tied to Igor Sechin, head of Russian oil group Rosneft.

Sussurro’s management company is Blue Ocean Management, a Cyprus-based company that also manages Le Grand Bleu, a 113-metre superyacht that Abramovich reportedly gave to his business associate Eugene Shvidler.

The UK placed Shvidler under sanctions last week.

The letter from the BVI’s financial investigation agency to its British counterparts also reveals that the owner of Le Grand Blue — Ashchurch Holdings Limited — is owned by “Zarui Shvidler”. Shvidler’s wife is commonly known as Zara Shvidler.

VesselsValue pegged Le Grand Bleu’s market value in a range of $110mn-$130mn, noting that the boat had last been tracked this week in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Representatives for Abramovich and Shvidler did not respond to requests for comment.

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Targeting super yachts owned by Russian oligarchs could hit a nerve in Moscow

Poor transparency around ownership of assets can cause challenges, experts say.

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With sanctions levied and financial assets seized, Russian oligarchs have been scrambling to get their super yachts out of Western ports in search of safer harbours. 

One yacht, said to belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin himself, abruptly left port in Hamburg, Germany, just weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted wide-reaching sanctions. Others were not so quick to leave European ports. 

Authorities in La Ciotat, on France's Mediterranean coast, seized a yacht they say is linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, the CEO of state oil company Rosneft. He was Russia's deputy prime minister from 2008 to 2012.

• Canada slaps sanctions on Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich
• Analysis With Russia pressing on and Ukraine digging in, how will Putin's war actually end?

Industry watchers say oligarchs everywhere are trying to keep their yachts from being taken.

​​"There's a few yachts that we are watching at the moment in the Atlantic," said Sam Tucker, head of super yachts at the firm VesselsValue, which tracks and estimates the value of these giant luxury yachts. 

"I'm expecting some of them to start doing U-turns in the middle of the ocean," he told CBC Radio's Day 6 .

Western countries have imposed a punishing package of sanctions and export control restrictions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Russia's biggest banks were hit, as was the country's central bank. Major state-owned companies and some of the country's wealthiest individuals have seen overseas assets frozen.

The investment bank JP Morgan Chase believes Russia's economy will shrink 35 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 and seven per cent for the entire year.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki says the suite of sanctions is meant to make every aspect of life difficult on Putin and the oligarchs who protect him.

"What we're talking about here is seizing their assets, seizing their yachts and making it harder for them to send their children to go to colleges and universities in the West," Psaki said in a briefing this week. "These are significant steps that will impact the people who are closely around President Putin."

<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Putin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Putin</a>´s Yacht "The Gracefull" inbound Kaliningrad from Hamburg in anticipation of future sanctions due to the conflict in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a>. <a href="https://t.co/qdhAUhCH1m">pic.twitter.com/qdhAUhCH1m</a> &mdash; @GDarkconrad

Symbolic target

The yachts themselves are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but experts in Russian sanctions say this isn't just about the dollar value.

"They don't have much value compared to the total net worth of an oligarch," said Bill Browder, a long-time advocate for stiff sanctions against Russian oligarchs, in an email to CBC Radio. 

But they are "a highly symbolic attack on something coveted by the oligarchs."

These ultra-luxurious ships became a status symbol for the oligarchs as they amassed fortunes in the 1990s and early 2000s.

"There is a bit of oneupmanship," Tucker told Day 6 . He says the biggest and most expensive ships are cloaked in secrecy. They have extreme privacy and security features, including bulletproof glass, and some require crew to sign non-disclosure agreements.

But Tucker says the biggest security and privacy feature of all is the opaque ownership structure of the yachts. He says precious little information about who actually owns these ships is available.

"[Only] basic information is disclosed — for example, the registered owner — which is often a shell company or a 'special interest vehicle' registered in Monaco, Malta, [or the] Cayman Islands," he said.

Untying those knots is a notorious problem, but one usually confined to taxation issues.

"One thing that I think may come out of this whole situation is the increased call for transparency and transparent ownership," said Tucker.

Yachts on the move

So far, only four super yachts have been seized, including a 213-foot yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov in Imperia, Italy.

While authorities sift through the byzantine paper trail of ownership, other oligarchs have scrambled their crews to get the yachts to somewhere safe.

"One of the things I've been trying to figure out is, where do they go [next]?" asked Alex Finley, a former CIA officer living in Barcelona, in an interview with  As It Happens host Gillian Findlay .

This week, Finley tweeted photos tracking a ship said to be owned by Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who owns the Chelsea Football Club.

• Anxious Russians flee by the hundreds each day into neighbouring Finland

"A lot of these yachts that we've been looking at are heading towards the Maldives or the Seychelles. A few are in Montenegro, but they look like they're probably going to be on the move," Finley said in the interview .

Here you can see the sterns of both Aurora and Valerie, and in the other pic, the empty slip where Solaris used to be (which is the size of the empty hole in my heart). 7/ <a href="https://t.co/Luvj5vyWXp">pic.twitter.com/Luvj5vyWXp</a> &mdash; @alexzfinley

Neither the Maldives nor the Seychelles signed onto the sanctions, so the ships are probably safe from seizure there. Another major hub is Dubai.

"I think we're going to see Dubai as a big hotspot for these yachts," said Tucker. "It has hot weather all year round and … Russians can fly to Dubai without going through the EU airspace."

Tucker agrees that targeting the yachts is a symbolic move.

"It's really sending the message that they aren't untouchable. We've closed the skies on both sides of the Atlantic so their private jets can't operate, and now we're going after their super yachts," he said.

"I'd be feeling quite vulnerable if I was an oligarch right now."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Senior Business reporter for CBC News. A former host of On the Money and World Report on CBC Radio, Peter Armstrong has been a foreign correspondent and parliamentary reporter for CBC. Subscribe to Peter's newsletter here: cbc.ca/mindyourbusiness Twitter: @armstrongcbc

Interview with Sam Tucker produced by Rachel Levy-Mclaughlin

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Russian Superyachts Find Safe Haven in Turkey, Raising Concerns in Washington

Turkey’s welcoming ports are symptoms of a much larger problem: evasion of U.S. sanctions against Russia.

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By Elif Ince ,  Michael Forsythe and Carlotta Gall

PORT AZURE, Turkey — On a hot August evening at a marina on Turkey’s southern coast, the crew of the Flying Fox was hard at work, keeping the 446-foot superyacht immaculate for future guests willing to pay $3 million a week. One crew member leaned over the railing at the stern, wiping the highly polished surface next to the ship’s nameplate. Another was busy with a squeegee, cleaning glass.

The Flying Fox, the world’s biggest yacht available for charter, played host last year to Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who skipped the Met Gala in New York to cruise the Mediterranean and enjoy the vessel’s over-the-top amenities: a 4,300-square-foot wellness center with a Turkish bath and a fully equipped beauty spa, among many others.

Then Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, the Flying Fox has been caught up in the dragnet of international sanctions designed to hobble the lifestyles of the oligarchs who help sustain President Vladimir V. Putin’s rule.

Yet, while some superyachts owned by or linked to Russian oligarchs facing sanctions have been seized in ports around the world, the Flying Fox and others caught up in the broader Russia penalties have found safe haven in Turkey, the only NATO member not to impose sanctions on Russia.

The flotilla of Russian superyachts in Turkish waters is raising tensions with the United States, which sees Turkey’s welcoming of the vessels as a symptom of the much larger problem: Russia’s access to Turkey’s financial system, potentially undermining Western sanctions.

Turkey’s strongman leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has criticized Western sanctions against Russia, said in March that Turkey could not impose sanctions because of its energy needs and industry deals. “There is nothing to be done there,” he said.

In all, at least 32 yachts tied to oligarchs and sanctioned entities have sheltered in the country’s waters in recent months, able to move about or moor in its picturesque coves and bays without fear of seizure, according to a New York Times analysis. Ownership records of superyachts for the ultrawealthy are notorious for being hidden behind layers of shell companies. The Times analysis was constructed with news accounts linking Russian oligarchs to particular yachts that were then matched with vessel positions available on commercial sites such as MarineTraffic . In many instances, the yachts were spotted in Turkish waters by a Times reporter.

On Aug. 19, the Treasury Department issued a statement saying that the deputy treasury secretary, Wally Adeyemo, had told a Turkish official that the United States was concerned about Russians using Turkey to evade sanctions.

Three days later, Mr. Adeyemo sent a letter to Turkish business groups warning of penalties if they worked with Russian individuals or entities facing sanctions. Turkish banks, he added, risked losing vital correspondent relationships with global banks — and even access to the U.S. dollar — if they did business with sanctioned Russian banks.

In September, several Turkish banks stopped accepting the Mir payment system — the Russian equivalent of Visa or MasterCard. Their actions came after the United States warned that financial institutions expanding the use of Mir or entering into new agreements risked running afoul of American sanctions against Russia.

Nevertheless, Turkish marinas continue to service sanctioned Russians and their superyachts.

The warm turquoise waters, secluded beaches and trendy establishments of Turkey’s Mediterranean coast have long made it a popular and convenient destination for Russian yacht owners and charterers during the summer. Local restaurant menus are printed in three languages: Turkish, English and Russian.

In June, the Flying Fox was singled out by the United States as “ blocked property ” and its management company, Imperial Yachts, was also sanctioned. Nevertheless, the Flying Fox has been moored since at least May at Port Azure, a marina in the posh resort town of Göcek. Other superyachts there owned by or linked to sanctioned Russians have been cruising from one postcard-worthy cove to another in the area.

The town’s polluted waters are unsuitable for swimming, an attractive feature for superyacht owners because it keeps away crowds and unwanted publicity. And the vessels can easily steam to pristine waters nearby. If the pampered guests have any unfulfilled needs, small boats roam around the harbor, selling groceries, ice cream, Turkish crepes and even massages.

Port Azure, touted as the first “mega-yacht-only marina” in Turkey, was opened last year by STFA, one of Turkey’s biggest conglomerates. The marina , which prides itself on its website as being a “haven” that makes “problems big and small go away,” has hosted at least eight yachts linked to Russian oligarchs or sanctioned companies this past summer, the Times analysis found.

On June 1, a Turkish yacht broker posted on Instagram a video taken at Port Azure showing a lineup of five yachts collectively worth almost $1 billion, including the Flying Fox; the Lana, recently listed at $1.8 million a week for charter by Imperial; and the Galactica Super Nova, linked to Vagit Alekperov, a sanctioned Putin ally, according to news media reports.

As of Oct. 20 there were at least 13 yachts in Turkey linked to sanctions, the Times analysis found. Of those, four were owned by or linked to sanctioned individuals and nine have recently been offered for charter by Imperial, the sanctioned Monaco-based company.

A spokeswoman for Imperial Yachts said that after the firm was sanctioned in June, its clients terminated their contracts with the company and that it “no longer manages or charters” any of the yachts in Turkish waters.

But until late August, Imperial advertised yachts for charter and for sale on its website, including yachts in Turkish waters. After an inquiry by The Times, the listings were removed from Imperial’s website, which now displays only a notice announcing that the company had been sanctioned. The company spokeswoman said that it had “kept its other pages alive as a reflection of its former brand.”

“During the time that the other website pages were visible, Imperial did not engage in any business engagements,” Imperial said in response to emailed questions.

Roman Abramovich, the most visible Russian oligarch recently seen in Turkey, does not use Imperial Yachts to manage the construction of his opulent yachts or staff them after they are put to sea. Four yachts owned by or linked to Mr. Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by Britain and the European Union, the Times analysis shows, were in Turkey in August.

Should the United States choose, it has tools at its disposal to enforce its sanctions on the Russian oligarchs, even if their vessels are in Turkish waters and even if the Turkish government is unwilling to cooperate, said Daniel Tannebaum, a former sanctions official who served at the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

One way, he said, would be to place sanctions on companies that service the oligarchs’ yachts in Turkey — the marinas, caterers and fueling companies. In that case, not just Russian yacht owners but also the many American yacht owners now in Turkish waters would have to take their business elsewhere, while the banks that do business with these companies might close their accounts so as to avoid becoming a target.

Superyachts are a significant source of income for the marinas, as well as other businesses in the area. In one example, Turkish news media outlets reported in April that Mr. Abramovich’s biggest yacht, the 533-foot-long Eclipse, ran up a fuel bill of $1.66 million in the port town of Marmaris. Its tanks took 22 hours to fill.

One of the four superyachts linked to Mr. Abramovich, the 460-foot Solaris, is moored in the Yalıkavak Marina in Bodrum, a trendy resort town in Turkey’s south. While lying idle, it still has 20 crew members who make trips every day to provision it, supply it with water and electricity and dispose of its waste, according to a port employee with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke anonymously because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

Solaris also receives a truckload of food every week through a catering company, he said, adding: “Twenty cases of asparagus — what would you do with so much asparagus?”

Yalıkavak is Turkey’s most luxurious marina, with stores like Prada, Louis Vuitton and Valentino on a promenade lined with palm trees overlooking the harbor. At least three yachts recently offered for charter by Imperial, the sanctioned management company, and three other yachts owned by or linked to oligarchs moored at Yalıkavak Marina this summer, the Times analysis shows.

In an emailed statement, the marina said that even though Turkey has not adopted sanctions, because it recognizes “international concerns,” the Solaris has been kept outside the marina’s boundaries. As for the vessels associated with Imperial Yachts, the marina said that it did not know, as the summer is “quite a busy time” and that it didn’t have a system in place to check whether an individual yacht might fall under international sanctions.

In August, the Eclipse, one of the yachts linked to Mr. Abramovich, was anchored in the middle of the bay off Göcek, a three-and-a-half-hour drive down the coast from Yalıkavak.

On an early morning in August, Ömer Kırpat, 56, was fishing on the shore in Göcek, sitting under a willow tree overlooking the yachts.

“The bells aren’t jingling,” he said, pointing to the bells attached to his rods to alert him when the fish bite. He showed his bucket with one lone fish inside, explaining that the fish avoid the shore because of pollution and noise from the boats.

Port Azure, the Göcek marina hosting the Flying Fox, was built over the port of a state-owned paper factory where Mr. Kırpat worked for 13 years as a security guard until it was privatized in 2001. He used to go there to swim, fish and have picnics every weekend with other factory workers and their families. “It was sparkly clean,” he said. “We caught the biggest fish there.”

He tried to go into Port Azure last year but was chased away. “We’re banned,” he said. “Soon they won’t even allow us to look inside. It’s heartbreaking.”

Michael Forsythe is a reporter on the investigations team. He was previously a correspondent in Hong Kong, covering the intersection of money and politics in China. He has also worked at Bloomberg News and is a United States Navy veteran. More about Michael Forsythe

Carlotta Gall is a senior correspondent currently covering the war in Ukraine. She previously was Istanbul bureau chief, covered the aftershocks of the Arab Spring from Tunisia, and reported from the Balkans during the war in Kosovo and Serbia, and from Afghanistan and Pakistan after 2001. She was on a team that won a 2009 Pulitzer Prize for reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan. More about Carlotta Gall

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A $600 million superyacht linked to the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has left a Spanish shipyard after undergoing repairs since 2021

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A superyacht linked to Roman Abramovich has left a Spanish shipyard, according to MarineTraffic.

The $600 million yacht had been docked there for repairs since late 2021, one person told Reuters.

Abramovich hasn't yet come under sanctions imposed by the US or European Union.

A superyacht with ties to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich departed from Barcelona in Spain on Tuesday after undergoing repairs since last year.

The yacht's departure was first reported by Reuters .

The vessel, named Solaris, left the shipyard of the Spanish yacht-maintenance firm MB92 in Barcelona on Tuesday afternoon, according to the ship-tracking site MarineTraffic .

Solaris, which spans 140 meters, or 460 feet, has a price tag of $600 million and can hold up to 36 guests, according to SuperYachtFan , which said that Abramovich owns the yacht .

The yacht was finished in 2021 after being built by the German company Lloyd Werft, according to SuperYacht Times .

A person in the industry told Reuters that the yacht had been docked at the Barcelona shipyard since late 2021, but it wasn't clear where it was headed next.

"We never comment on the movements of the yacht or any other vehicles or vessels," a spokesperson for Abramovich told Reuters.

MB92 declined to comment to Reuters and Insider.

The news comes as the wealthiest Russians sought to move their yachts and private jets to different locations after the invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to protect their assets.

Abramovich, who has a net worth of $13.6 billion , according to a Bloomberg estimate, hasn't yet come under US or EU sanctions, which have been imposed on other Russian oligarchs and billionaires with ties to President Vladimir Putin since his troops invaded Ukraine.

Last week, Abramovich announced he was selling the English Premier League team Chelsea FC, with an asking price of $2.5 billion, The New York Times reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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Russian oligarch roman abramovich’s secretive $1b superyacht fleet revealed.

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Sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s fleet of superyachts was revealed Friday to be more extensive than previously known following the discovery of two more luxury vessels in Antigua – both of which now face seizure.

British authorities have determined that Abramovich is the owner of the yachts Halo and Garçon, which have been the subject of persistent scrutiny while docked in Antigua as Western nations crackdown on the wealth of rich Russians during the Ukraine invasion.

Halo is valued at approximately $38 million, while Garçon is worth about $20 million, according to data from yacht valuation firm VesselsValue.

Abramovich’s ownership of the two additional superyachts came to light following an extensive investigation by the Financial Times .

A top Antiguan official said the island sought information on Wenham Overseas Limited, an Abramovich-linked and British Virgin Islands-based firm listed as the owner of Halo and Garçon. The firm is on the UK sanctions list.

In a letter to Antigua’s government, British officials said an investigation had determined that the “beneficial owner of Wenham Overseas Ltd is Roman Abramovich.”

Ronald Sanders, Antigua’s ambassador to the United States, said the country is willing to detain and seize both vessels if it receives a formal request from the UK government.

“The only way we can (seize the vessels) is if the British in their mutual legal assistance treaty request establish that this is a person they want because he has committed some crime,” Sanders told Reuters.

Abramovich was already known to be the owner of the $600 million Solaris and the $700 million Eclipse, each of which fled to sea last month after the United Kingdom sanctioned the oligarch. Both yachts were last known to be docked in Turkey .

The Russian billionaire may also still own a fifth yacht, the $11 million Sussurro, that he first purchased in 1998, according to the FT. While Abramovich reportedly gave the yacht to his ex-wife following their divorce, the outlet said a source with knowledge of his fleet and other documents showed the oligarch was still linked to the vessel through another firm.

Abramovich and other oligarchs have scrambled to protect the trappings of their wealth during the increasingly harsh crackdown. The UK sanctions froze Abramovich’s assets and forced him to sell his ownership stake in the Premier League soccer club Chelsea.

Meanwhile, reports have surfaced that Abramovich may have been poisoned alongside Ukrainian officials last month while attending peace talks aimed at ending the invasion – a sign that the oligarch’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin has frayed.

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Chelsea owner Abramovich’s second yacht also docks in Turkey

A view of Eclipse, a luxury yacht reported to belong to Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, docked at a port in the resort of Marmaris, Turkey, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Turkish media reports say a second superyacht belonging to Chelsea soccer club owner and sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has docked in a resort in southwestern Turkey. The private DHA news agency said the Bermuda-registered Eclipse docked at a port in the resort of Marmaris on Tuesday. (IHA via AP)

Bermuda-flagged luxury yacht “Solaris” that belongs to Roman Abramovich sails near the Aegean coastal resort of Bodrum, Turkey, Monday, March 21, 2022. A yacht belonging to Chelsea soccer club owner and sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has docked in Turkey’s Aegean Sea resort of Bodrum, Turkish media reports said Monday, amid international moves to freeze assets belonging to top Russian businessmen with close links to the Kremlin. (IHA via AP)

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A second superyacht belonging to Chelsea soccer club owner and sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has docked in a resort in southwestern Turkey — a country which is not applying sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Turkish media reports said Tuesday.

The private DHA news agency said the Bermuda-registered Eclipse docked at a port in the resort of Marmaris, amid international efforts to freeze assets belonging to top Russian businessmen linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A day earlier, Abramovich’s Bermuda-flagged luxury yacht My Solaris arrived in the nearby resort of Bodrum, triggering a protest by a group of Ukrainians who boarded a small motor boat and tried to prevent the yacht from docking.

Last week, the European Union updated a list of individuals facing asset freezes and travel bans over their ties to the Kremlin and began imposing sanctions on Abramovich. The 55-year-old had already been punished in Britain.

NATO-member Turkey has close ties to both Russia and Ukraine. It has criticized Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine but has also positioned itself as a neutral party trying to mediate between the two.

Helipads that turn into pools! On-board spas! Anti-pap tech! Inside the oligarch super-yachts

Igor Sechin’s superyacht has a helipad that converts into a swimming pool. Viktor Rashnikov’s seven-deck vessel comes with six pools for its 28 guests. Dmitry Pumpyansky’s boat’s onboard jacuzzi is a hit with everyone from Kendall Jenner to Lewis Hamilton - or at least it was, before the Russian steel magnate’s beloved boat was seized in Gibraltar as part of a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse amongst oligarchs’ mega-yachts since the start of the Ukraine war.

Yachts of those linked to Vladimir Putin are being confiscated by authorities in (mostly European) ports across the world but for some of those marina-hopping to avoid sanctions are finding it harder to lay low than others. Businessman Dmitry Kamenshchik’s mega-boat is the height of three London buses end-to-end and comes with an onboard hospital and dive school, and a boat docked in Italy that’s reportedly owned by Putin himself is the size of two apartment blocks, with local captains saying it’s the biggest they’ve ever seen - and that’s by superyacht standards.

No wonder members of Russia’s billionaire big boat club are starting to sweat. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich ’s nine-deck A-list party palace has already been met by activists with Ukrainian flags to stop it docking, and Ragnar, a £58 million icebreaker owned by mining tycoon Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, has been stuck in a Norwegian port since mid-February because no one will sell it fuel due to the owner’s links to the Russian president.

From Russian sailboats with their own submarines to the £140 million vessel where Bennifer rekindled their romance last summer, this is a guide to the brashest boats in the battle of the high seas.

Vladimir Putin’s six-floor mega-vessel

Name : Scheherazade

(Alleged) Owner : Russian President Vladimir Putin

Size : 460ft

Price-tag: £528m

USP : A weapon system capable of shooting down drones

Seizure status : Unseized in Italy

“It’s the largest yacht I’ve ever seen here... We’re all wondering who the owner is”. That’s what one Italian yacht owner told reporters last week of the mysterious superyacht - one of the 20 biggest in the world - docked in Tuscany’s Marina di Carrara near hers for the last few months (it reportedly features a spa, cinema, wood-burning fireplace, two helipads and a pool table that tilts to adjust for the waves).

The mega-vessel was built in 2020 and its ownership been cloaked in secrecy from the start. Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky is one of those piling pressure on Italian authorities to seize the boat, with US authorities and activists linked to Alexei Navalny all pointing to the same suspected owner: Vladimir Putin.

“They are Russian state employees, military personnel, and they regularly travel to Italy as a group to work on the mysterious yacht,” investigative journalist Maria Pevchikh has said of the crew members, amid rumours that all 40 of them have now been removed from the vessel and replaced with British crew.

Pevchikh looked up many of the previous crew using phone numbers and credit score data and claims they were all Russian apart from the captain, a British national called Guy Bennett-Pearce who denies ever seeing Putin on board and whose mother said this week that he would never work for a “murderer”.

She claims that some of the crew worked for Russia’s Federal Protective Service (FSO), the agency responsible for the president’s personal security, while one of them has reportedly worked aboard Graceful, a 270ft boat that has also been linked to Putin. Scheherazade has also reportedly travelled twice to the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, where Putin has a residence.

Roman Abramovich’s A-list party palace

Name : Eclipse

Owner : Sanctioned Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich

Size : 533ft

Price-tag: £750m

A-list crew : Princess Beatrice, Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, Kendall Jenner

The have-yachts become the have-nots: how big boats became the new geopolitical power pawns

Scheherazade: The £500m superyacht in Tuscan port ‘linked to Putin’

Yachts banned from leaving British moorings amid crackdown on Russian oligarchs

USP : Built-in missile defences, bullet-proof windows, “anti-paparazzi” tech and a miniature submarine

Seizure status: Unseized in Turkey

While Putin’s alleged yacht hides out in Italy, one of his closest ties in the UK, Roman Abramovich, has moved his to Turkey in a bid to evade sanctions. German-built Eclipse is the biggest beast in the Russian billionaire’s flotilla and was custom-made for him in 2010, featuring nine decks, two helipads, two swimming pools, several hot tubs, a gym, beauty salon and even an onboard nightclub.

It was the world’s longest private yacht until 2013, and has room for 24 guests. Princess Beatrice, Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry and Kendall Jenner have all been spotted partying onboard the £175,000-a-night vessel in Cannes over recent years - presumably keen to take advantage of the ship’s rumoured “anti-paparazzi” system designed to disrupt attempts to photograph passengers.

The vessel spends much of its time in the Caribbean where the Chelsea owner has a 70-acre beachside estate on the billionaire island of St Barts. But last month it was seen fleeing the Caribbean island of St Maarten and it has reportedly now been moved to Marmaris in the heart of the Turkish Riviera, where it was met with activists - including children - waving a “no war”-branded Ukrainian flag from an inflatable dingy in a bid to stop him docking.

Abramovich’s second biggest beast and the newest addition to his fleet, Solaris (featuring eight decks, a helipad and onboard beach club), has also been moved to Turkey in a bid to escape sanctions. The 48-cabin vessel was built in Germany and features the largest planes of glass ever built into a yacht.

It is currently docked 40 miles down the coast from Eclipse in Bodrum, where Abramovich has holidayed in the past, after slipping out of a Barcelona port earlier this month - and just in time. Six days later, Spanish officials there seized Valerie, the superyacht owned by former KGB boss Sergei Chemezov.

Alisher Usmanov’s big-b(u)oy boat

Name : Dilbar

Owner : Sanctioned billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov, who has financial interests in Everton FC and family ties to Putin (his wife is a gymnastics coach who helped Putin’s rumoured girlfriend Alina Kabaeva)

Size : 512ft

Price-tag: £450m

USP : The Dilbar is the largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage (15,917), featuring the largest indoor pool ever installed on a yacht

Seizure status: Allegedly seized in Germany

Steel magnate Usmanov’s custom-built mega-boat has been described as “one of the most complex and challenging yachts ever built, in terms of both dimensions and technology” - but that didn’t seem to stop the the German authorities, who are reported to have seized it in Hamburg.

Hamburg officials have denied such reports, saying “no yachts have been confiscated” but three sources in the yacht industry told Forbes that the boat was seized by German authorities last week. Other reports claim the boat has not been seized but that all the vessel’s staff have been fired, suggesting that even Russia’s sixth-richest man (once the UK’s richest person) couldn’t afford their wages following Western sanctions.

“We have tried all avenues to find a solution to keep the team in place, and protect our positions, but have reached the end of the road of possibilities,” the boat’s captain Tim Armstrong reportedly wrote in a message to the crew.

No wonder. At 15,917 tonnes, the Dilbar (named after Usmanov’s mother) reportedly costs the same as four supercars to fill up with fuel (that’s approximately £45m to run it every year). It sleeps a crew of 96, plus 24 guests across 12 suites, with 1,000 cushions to keep them comfortable on deck. Standout facilities include two helicopter pads, a beach deck, garden, sauna, beauty salon, gym and the largest indoor pool (25m) ever installed on a yacht.

Dmitry Pumpyansky’s floating beach house

Name : Axioma

Owner : Sanctioned billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky, owner and chairman of steel pipe manufacturer OAO TMK, a supplier to Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom

Size : 240ft

Price-tag: £57m

A-list crew : Kendall Jenner, Lewis Hamilton, Hailey Bieber and Gigi and Bella Hadid

USP : An inflatable waterslide and interiors fit for a Kardashian

Seizure status: Seized in Gibraltar

Pumpyansky’s mega-boat was previously docked in Antigua but set sail in early March for Gibraltar, where it was promptly detained. The vessel features five decks, a 3D cinema, on-deck infinity pool, jacuzzi with a swim-up bar, steam room, gym and watersports toys including jet skis.

With space for 12 guests alongside its 20-person crew, Axioma might not rival Usmanov’s boat on size, but it certainly does on star status. Kendall Jenner reportedly chartered the boat for her 19th birthday, inviting Gigi and Bella Hadid, Lewis Hamilton and Hailey Bieber to join her on the £420,00-a -week boat in Monaco.

According to superyachtfan.com, it’s the largest motor yacht ever built in Turkey, with a “beach house”-style inside. Images on chartering site Northrop & Johnson show interiors decked out with white and gold furnishings, shiny granite and natural wood fittings and bold modern artworks on the walls.

Vladimir Strzhalkovsky’s English-style icebreaker

Name : Ragnar

Owner : Unsanctioned mining tycoon, former KGB agent and longtime Putin acquaintance Vladimir Strzhalkovsky

Size : 223ft

Price-tag: £58m

USP : Onboard jet skis, snowmobiles and an English-style pub

Seizure status: Unseized in Norway

Ragnar (an old norse word meaning “warrior”) might not have been seized, nor its owner sanctioned, but it’s unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon. According to latest reports, the £382,000-a-week converted icebreaker has been stuck in a Norwegian port since mid-February because no one will sell it fuel due to the owner’s links to the Russian president.

“We find the discrimination against us, extremely unjust... We have nothing to do with the owner of the boat,” the yacht’s captain, Robert Lankester, wrote in a message after Norwegian fuel suppliers said he and his 16-person crew can “row home” or “use a sail”.

Lankester is a British former Royal Marine and insists that none of his crew are Russian - “they just want to go home” and have resorted to catching and barbecuing fresh cod in the meantime.

At least there is plenty to keep them occupied and make them feel at home while they wait. According to Boat International, not only does the Arctic-ready vessel also include four ski scooters, a giant slide, snowmobiles and equipment for heli-skiing, but there’s also a room specifically designed to resemble a British pub.

Igor Sechin’s statesmanly ship

Name : Amore Vero

Owner : Igor Sechin, the sanctioned boss of Russia’s state energy company Rosneft, former deputy prime minister of Russia and a close ally of Putin

Size : 280ft

Price-tag: £90m

USP : A swimming pool that converts into a helipad

Seizure status: Seized in France

France might just have stolen the heart of Russia’s top oil tycoon (and one of Putin’s closest advisers), if the name of his boat Amore Vero ( “true love”) is anything to go by. Igor Sechin’s 280ft Netherlands-built superyacht was seized by officials in the small Mediterranean fishing port of La Ciotat near Marseille in early March. It had been due to stay there until late April while undergoing repairs, but authorities say they found the crew preparing for an urgent departure when they arrived.

The award-winning yacht has a 28-strong crew and staterooms for 14 guests, including two VIP suites with private balconies. There are two private owner’s decks, a jacuzzi and even a swimming pool that turns into a helipad. A second of Sechin’s mega-yachts, the £45 million Crescent, has also been seized in Spain.

Dmitry Kamenshchik’s Beyoncé-approved record-breaker

Name : Flying Fox

Owner : Unsanctioned Russian businessman Dmitry Kamenshchik, chairman of Moscow Domodedovo Airport

Size: 446ft

Price-tag: £303m

A-list crew : Beyoncé and Jay-Z

USP : An onboard hospital, professional dive centre and two-floor spa with the first on-yacht cryo-sauna

Seizure status: Unseized in the Dominican Republic

Picture three London buses balanced end-on-end. That’s the height of Dmitry Kamenshchik’s motor-boat palace, which towers 32 metres above the water and officially claims the crown for the world’s largest charter yacht. At £2.5 million-a-week (without food, fuel or extras), it’s also the most expensive to charter and was rented out by power couple royalty Beyoncé and Jay-Z for a summer holiday last September.

No wonder it caught their eye. The cruise-like ship comes with an onboard hospital, cinema, al fresco kitchen with a rotisserie, barbecue and multiple teppanyaki grills, and a world-leading spa that would be impressive even if it was firmly on dry land. Set over two floors, it features heated limestone flooring and a giant spa pool with hot and cold tanks for switching between steaming and icy modes in as little as 10 minutes.

For adrenaline-loving guests, the ship also features a water garage with an impressive fleet of nine tenders, toys from hoverboards to jet skis and even space for a submarine, if the owner ever chooses to install one. Oh, and there’s also professional dive centre with a three-person decompression chamber and a team of instructors including former Marines and Olympians.

Other staff members double-up as hairdressers and every member of the crew has military experience - which might come in handy given the limitations being imposed on high net-worth Russians like Kamenshchik, whether they’re sanctioned or not.

Alexei Mordashov’s luxury warship

Name : Nord

Owner : Russia’s richest man Alexei Mordashov, a sanctioned steel magnate with an estimated net worth of $29.1 billion

Size : 464ft

Price-tag: £500m

USP : Military-grade facilities (and style). Nord features its own helicopter hangar and two helipads

Seizure status: Unseized in the Seychelles

Nord - named after Mordashov’s gold-mining company - is currently anchored in the Seychelles, where Western sanctions don’t apply. The aptly-described “Tuxedo’d warship” looks more like a small aircraft carrier than a luxury yacht, featuring a beach club, swimming pool, cinema, gym, sauna and beauty salon. Designers say she was made with one idea in mind: “she must cause strong emotions in every observer, not only through her sheer size, but with the design itself”.

The sleek superyacht is the biggest in the businessman’s fleet of mega-boats, sleeping 36 guests, but it currently remains unseized. One of his other superyachts, the £42m 215ft Lady M (pictured above), was seized in Italy earlier this month.

Andrey Melnichenko’s eight-deck sailboat

Name : SY A (short for Sailing Yacht A)

Owner : Sanctioned chemical and coal magnate Andrey Melnichenko, founder of fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and coal energy company SUEK

Size : 469ft

USP : The world’s tallest masts and its own submarine

Seizure status: Seized in Italy

Melnichenko’s superyacht is one of the few owned by oligarchs to actually feature sails - and he certainly doesn’t do things by half. The futuristic-looking grey sailing boat was designed by A-list architect Philippe Starck and features the world’s tallest masts, each more than a football field in height above the deck, making it the world’s largest power-assisted sailing yacht (though it is rarely actually spotted sailing).

The eight-decker also sports multiple elevators, an underwater observation area and - allegedly - its own submarine. It was seized in the Italian port of Trieste in March.

Sergei Chemezov’s Hollywood dream boat

Name : Valerie

Owner : Sanctioned arms tycoon Sergei Chemezov, chief executive of Russian state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec who used to work with Putin as a KGB spy

Size : 279ft

Price-tag: £107m

A-list crew : Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck

USP : Bennifer approval

Seizure status: Seized in Spain

Valerie might have just been seized in Barcelona for belonging to Putin’s KGB pal Sergei Chemezov, but it is probably more famous for the headlines it made in the south of France last July. The mega-boat was reportedly the same vessel where Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck chose to rekindle their on-off romance last summer , after the Hollywood power pair were spotted cosying up on the glistening sundeck in Saint Tropez.

J-Lo is said to have hired the vessel for her 52nd birthday celebrations, having spent $200,000 on flights to get there. The iconic mega-yacht has cost €950,00 a week to charter in the past and comes with jet skis and equipment for offshore fishing - although Instagram suggests the couple were probably more interested in staying onboard.

The six-deck cruiser features a 20ft swimming pool, spa, jacuzzi hot tub and space for 17 guests and 27 crew. Perhaps it was one of them behind the singer’s onboard bikini birthday shoot, which has been liked more than 8 million times and shows her and Affleck kissing on the deck.

Viktor Rashnikov’s swimmer’s paradise

Name : Ocean Victory

Owner : Sanctioned steel magnate Viktor Rashnikov, chairman of one of Russia’s largest steelmakers MMK

Size: 460ft

Price-tag: £228m

USP : Six pools, a floodable tender garage and an underwater observation room

Seizure status: Unseized in the Maldives

Swimming pools are a superyacht essential in the oligarch world, but Viktor Rashnikov’s has six. That’s one for every five guests - which seems like a waste, given the yacht isn’t even available for charter.

Too late now anyway - the boat not have been seized (yet), but it’s certainly making a break for it. According to Bloomberg, it’s been spotted around the Maldives, a popular spot among hiding yacht-owners as it has no extradition treaty with the US. The seven-deck cruiser sleeps 28 guests and 56 crew and reportedly comes with a helipad, underwater observation suite and a floodable tender dock for smaller boats.

Eugene Shvidler’s Mercedes on the water

Name : Le Grand Bleu

Owner : Sanctioned oil magnate Eugene Shvidler

Size: 370ft

Price-tag: £114m

USP : An onboard aquarium and Land Rover 4x4

Seizure status: Unseized in the Caribbean

Designers say Shvidler’s boat was specifically designed “to look like a Mercedes” on the water - and buoy, does owner Shvidler like to show it off (or before the sanctions, anyway). In 2017, he deliberately anchored it in front of the Statue of Liberty for two months, blocking New Yorkers’ selfies in what the New York Post called a “jackass move”.

Perhaps part of the reason the oil magnate likes to show it off is the fact that he reportedly won it in a high-stakes wager against fellow oligarch Abramovich in 2006. It features an onboard aquarium, two boats capable of speeding at 69mph and a landing craft with its own Land Rover 4x4 for adventuring on dry-land.

Watch CBS News

Russian oligarch stashes second yacht in Turkey, apparently to beat Ukraine-linked sanctions

March 22, 2022 / 7:55 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Ankara, Turkey — A second superyacht belonging to Chelsea soccer club owner and sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has docked in a resort in southwestern Turkey - a country that's not applying sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine , Turkish media reports said Tuesday.

The private DHA news agency said the Bermuda-registered Eclipse docked at a port in the resort of Marmaris amid international efforts to freeze assets belonging to top Russian businessmen linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A day earlier, Abramovich's Bermuda-flagged luxury yacht My Solaris arrived in the nearby resort of Bodrum, triggering a protest by a group of Ukrainians who boarded a small motor boat and tried to prevent the yacht from docking.

Last week, the European Union updated a list of individuals facing asset freezes and travel bans over their ties to the Kremlin and began imposing sanctions on Abramovich. The 55-year-old had already been punished in Britain.

NATO-member Turkey has close ties to both Russia and Ukraine. It has criticized Moscow's invasion of Ukraine but has also positioned itself as a neutral party trying to mediate between the two.

Abramovich announced earlier this month that he's selling the Chelsea club. Abramovich said the sale won't "be fast-tracked but will follow due process" and that the net proceeds will go to victims in Ukraine.

"This has never been about business nor money for me, but about pure passion for the game and Club," he said. 

Forbes has valued Abramovich's net worth  at $12.4 billion  while Chelsea was worth an  estimated $3.2 billion  in 2021. The 55-year-old, who was once Russia's richest man, said he will set up a foundation to which net proceeds from the sale will be donated.

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Roman Abramovich’s superyacht leaves Turkish port run by UK-listed firm

Russian oligarch’s vessel departed after Global Ports Holding was pressed to act over UK sanctions

Roman Abramovich’s $600m (£458m) superyacht Solaris has left a port in Turkey after the London-based company that operates the terminal which had been harbouring the oligarch’s yacht was pressed to act.

Solaris, which is 140 metres long and has a helipad and swimming pool, left Bodrum Cruise Port on Monday. It is now at anchor off Yalikavak beach in south-western Turkey, according to the shipping data service Marine Traffic .

Pressure had been building for Global Ports Holding (GPH), the Mayfair-headquartered company that runs Bodrum Cruise Port, to refuse services to Solaris.

Legal experts had said the London-listed company was taking “a very big risk” by allowing a superyacht owned by a sanctioned individual to use one of its ports. The Bodrum port is one of 22 terminals run by the firm.

Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, is one of several Russian billionaires hit by UK sanctions last month as part of the government’s efforts to put pressure on Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, described the sanctioned individuals as having “the blood of the Ukrainian people on their hands”.

A spokesperson for Global Ports Holding declined to comment on why Solaris had left the port.

In a statement on Sunday, the company said it did not have “any power to accept or reject any ship or yacht” from the port but it had taken the decision to “not receive any service fee or other payments concerning the berthing of this superyacht”.

“Global Ports Holding plc notes recent press speculation regarding the berthing at Bodrum Yolcu Liman İşletmeleri AŞ (Bodrum Cruise Port), Turkey, of a superyacht, allegedly owned by a designated person subject to sanctions imposed by the UK government,” GPH said .

“As a private terminal operator in Turkey , GPH merely operates Bodrum Cruise Port as the concessionaire and is not involved in granting permission for a ship or a yacht to dock at the port. This responsibility and decision sit with the Turkish authorities, and as concessionaire, GPH must comply with such a decision as long as the decision is legal under the applicable laws.

“However, and notwithstanding the difficulties of any party to correctly identify the actual ownership of such assets, GPH has not and will not receive any service fee or other payments concerning the berthing of this superyacht at Bodrum Cruise Port.”

The company said the berthing of Solaris did not breach UK sanction laws because “the alleged offence has taken place at a port outside the United Kingdom where GPH does not have any ownership or any power to accept or reject any ship or yacht pursuant to the applicable laws”.

Solaris arrived at Bodrum Cruise Port on 22 March after hurriedly leaving a port in Barcelona , where it was undergoing repairs, as EU countries began seizing sanctioned individuals’ assets.

Ukrainian protesters tried to stop Solaris mooring at the port. Members of the Optimist Sailing Team Ukraine confronted the vessel in a small boat, chanting “No war in Ukraine” and waving the country’s flag. They were part of a junior sailing team that was in Turkey to compete in an annual competition, having left Ukraine before the invasion.

Turkey has refused to impose sanctions on Russians, despite the UK, US and EU uniting to restrict oligarchs believed to have benefited from close relationships with Putin. The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said the oligarchs were “of course” welcome and could do business in Turkey according to international law.

Another, even larger, superyacht owned by Abramovich is moored in Turkey. Eclipse, which at 162.5 metres is believed to be the world’s second largest superyacht, arrived at the port of Marmaris on 22 March.

Reports suggest that Abramovich owns as many as five superyachts worth more than $1bn (£762m) in total. Another yacht linked to the billionaire, Garcon, is now berthed in Antigua.

The Antiguan government has asked for the UK’s assistance to seize the vessel. Ronald Sanders, the country’s ambassador to the US, told Reuters: “We’ve said that we’re quite happy to cooperate, but under the rule of law. The only way we can [seize the vessel] is if the British, in their mutual legal assistance treaty request, establish that this is a person they want because he has committed some crime.”

• Roman Abramovich
• Shipping industry
• Corporate governance

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Billionaire Roman Abramovich’s yacht is ‘the prize to seize’ amid Russia conflict

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Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s $500 million megayacht is the prize piece of hardware the international community wants to seize from the oligarchs, according to insiders.

Eclipse , the second-largest superyacht in the world, which is currently moored in St. Maarten, is equipped with a military-grade missile detection system, bulletproof glass, and a three-person submarine that is capable of submerging to 50 meters — sparking speculation that the vessel could be a refuge for President Vladimir Putin, of whom Abramovich is said to be a close confidant.

One Russian source told Page Six, “Yachts generally do not have bulletproof glass and antiballistic missile defenses. People in Russia and the Ukraine believe it was built for Putin. That yacht will definitely be top of the list to be seized by the Americans or the Europeans.”

Abramovich — who has always denied a personal link to Putin — nevertheless has been in Belarus helping with cease-fire talks with the Ukrainians on behalf of the Russians.

And he’s selling his prized Chelsea Football Club in the UK as he reportedly is rushing to offload assets including multiple properties in England before he is hit with possible sanctions.

Eclipse has hosted a litany of stars and power brokers over the years including Paul McCartney and Leonardo DiCaprio and has been at Abramovich’s annual New Year’s Eve party in St. Barts.

The vessel — built by renowned German shipbuilder Blohm + Voss — has three helipads, 24 guest cabins, two swimming pools, several hot tubs, and a disco hall. Around 70 crew members are needed to operate it.

It even is reported to boast an anti-paparazzi system that detects the use of digital cameras to click photographs of the boat and uses lasers to disrupt a potential photograph.

A spokesman for Abramovich didn’t immediately get back to us.

The first Russian yacht that appears to have been seized is owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov. His 512-foot yacht Dilbar, valued at nearly $600 million, has been impounded by German authorities in Hamburg, where it was undergoing repairs, Forbes reported .

The ship has been in the yards of shipbuilder Blohm + Voss since late October for a refitting job, the outlet reported, adding the German government froze the asset.

Usmanov reportedly bought Dilbar in 2016 for $600 million, custom-built by German shipbuilder Lürssen, which describes it as “One of the most complex and challenging yachts ever built, in terms of both dimensions and technology. At 15,917 tons, the 156-meter superyacht features entertainment and recreation spaces never before seen on a yacht. These include a 25-meter swimming pool that holds an incredible 180 m³ of water, the largest pool ever to have been installed on a yacht.” It can host 24 people in 12 suites and carries a crew of nearly 100.

Multibillionaire Usmanov’s fortune spans stakes in iron ore and steel giant Metalloinvest and consumer electronics firm Xiaomi, Forbes also reported. He is of the earliest investors in Facebook, a former stakeholder of Arsenal Football Club and also owns impressive real estate assets in the West, from two estates in the UK — Beechwood House in London and Sutton Place in Surrey, valued at a combined $280 million — to luxury homes across Germany, Switzerland, Monaco and Sardinia.

Usmanov said in a statement that he had been targeted by “restrictive measures” by the European Union, and “I believe that such decision is unfair, and the reasons employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity, and business reputation,” he wrote. “I will use all legal means to protect my honor and reputation.”

The move comes after President Biden fired a warning shot at the oligarchs during his State of the Union address , saying, “We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.”

And French authorities have seized a yacht that they say is linked to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, considered a close ally and “de facto deputy” of Putin. 

The 280-foot Amore Velo was taken on March 2 in La Ciotat Shipyards, in the South of France, the country’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, announced on Twitter .

Meanwhile, a growing number of superyachts belonging to Russian tycoons have made their way to the Indian Ocean , cruising around the Maldives and Seychelles. 

And according to German reports, Putin’s own superyacht slipped out of European Union waters a few days before the invasion of Ukraine to avoid being impounded.

The $100 million vessel named Graceful left port in Hamburg abruptly before finishing repairs, according to the reports from German newspaper Bild , moving into Russian waters near Kaliningrad along the Baltic coast.

The superyacht features an indoor pool that can be transformed into a dance floor as well as a helipad, and can accommodate 14 guests.

But despite the craft being out of the reach of the EU, members of the “hacktivist” collective Anonymous managed to change Putin’s superyacht’s call sign to “FCKPTN” and the ship’s destination to “hell.”

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