why are russian oligarchs yachts being seized

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Here are the superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs

As part of an international pressure campaign on Russia, authorities from around the world have seized more than a half-dozen superyachts belonging to billionaire oligarchs allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The yacht seizures since the Feb. 24 invasion are "just the beginning," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in March, as an international task force worked to identify further assets that can be seized or frozen.

“The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said of the ongoing efforts in May.

Here are the superyachts government officials have seized since Russia invaded Ukraine last month.

The Justice Department announced May 5 that the Fijian government had seized billionaire oligarch Suleiman Kerimov 's 348-foot yacht Amadea. The vessel, which is valued at more than $300 million , arrived in Fiji last month. Kerimov, who's worth an estimated $14 billion and has ties to the Russian government, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department over alleged money laundering in 2018.

Special features on the sprawling yacht include a helipad, infinity pool, a jacuzzi and multiple bars, according to a report in Boat International . It can accommodate 16 overnight guests in addition to 36 crew members, the report said.

In April, Spanish law-enforcement officials seized a 255-foot yacht called the Tango, which Justice Department says is owned by oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Vekselberg is an aluminum magnate who the Treasury Department says has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Tango is worth an estimated $90 million, prosecutors said , and Vekselberg allegedly purchased it through shell companies. The 11-year-old yacht has seven staterooms and reportedly includes amenities such as a pool, gym and beauty salon .

Authorities in Italy seized a 215-foot superyacht called the Lady M this month. It's owned by Alexei Mordashov, Russia's richest businessman, and it’s estimated to be worth $27 million . The vessel, which requires a crew of 14, has six guest cabins , a pool and a gym.

But it pales in comparison to another of Mordashov's yachts, the $500 million Nord . The 464-foot vessel, which has two helipads and a waterfall and can accommodate 36 guests, was anchored this month in the Seychelles, where the U.S. and European Union sanctions don’t apply.

Italian officials also seized the 132-foot superyacht Lena, owned by the energy magnate Gennady Timchenko. Estimated to be worth $8 million, it has five cabins and can accommodate 10 guests.

SY A — short for Sailing Yacht A — is one of the world's largest superyachts. Valued at over $440 million, the 469-foot vessel, owned by the fertilizer magnate Andrey Melnichenko, has eight decks, multiple elevators, an underwater observation area and the world's tallest masts . It was seized in the Italian port of Trieste.

Authorities in Spain seized Sergei Chemezov's Valerie, a 279-foot superyacht that had been moored in Barcelona. Chemezov , a former KGB officer, heads the state conglomerate Rostec. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez touted the seizure on La Sexta television. “We are talking about a yacht that we estimate is worth $140 million,” Sanchez said.

Officials in France announced this month that they had seized the 289-foot Amore Vero, which was undergoing repairs in a shipyard near Marseille. When they arrived, authorities said, they found the crew preparing for an urgent departure, even though the repair work was scheduled to last through April. The $120 million boat, which has seven cabins , is linked to Igor Sechin, described by the U.S. Treasury Department as a close ally of Putin's.

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.

Russian oligarch's most prized assets, from superyachts and jets to properties are being targeted by sanctions. Here's what's been seized so far.

• Oligarchs have been the target of Western countries' sanctions amid Russia's war in Ukraine. 
• Some of their assets, including superyachts and properties, have been seized by governments. 
• Here's a look at the assets that have been seized.

Sanctioned Russian oligarchs have had their assets seized by governments due to sanctions levied against them by Western countries following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24. 

Sanctions have hit some of the wealthiest businessmen, including Chelsea FC's owner Roman Abramovich , Alexei Mordashov, who is currently Russia's third-richest man, and the family of Dmitry Peskov , who is Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson.

The actions taken against key Russian figures aimed to choke off the country's ability to access critical cash reserves and cut it off from the world. Meanwhile, Russian billionaires have had their superyachts and properties seized, as well as their jets detained on the grounds. 

The whereabouts of Abramovich's two superyachts, worth more than $1 billion, have been scrutinized and monitored in recent weeks. He has been spotted at peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and was reportedly the target of a suspected poison attack. 

A month on from Russia invading Ukraine, here's a look at what has been seized so far. 

Superyachts

Superyachts, many of which are worth millions of dollars, have been primarily targeted by sanctions. However, while authorities have tried to seize several of the 400 sanctioned Russian oligarchs, some remain untraceable. At least nine superyachts owned by Russian tycoons switched off their tracking systems after the Ukraine war began. 

Linked to Igor Sechin, Russia's former deputy prime minister and CEO of state-controlled oil giant Rosneft,  Amore Vero was seized by French authorities on March 3. 

Sechin, whose yacht is valued at $120 million , has been sanctioned by the US, UK and EU. 

Lena and Lady M

Italy seized two superyachts in the following days. Lena was seized on March 5, and belongs to Gennady Timchenko, whose family have also been sanctioned. The second superyacht seized belongs to Russia's wealthiest businessman Alexei Mordashov, according to Forbes . 

Timchenko has been sanctioned by the EU, who described him as a "long-time acquaintance" of Putin. He has also been sanctioned by the UK and the US. 

Mordashov has been sanctioned by the UK and the EU, who says he is "benefitting from his links from Russian decision-makers."

Sailing Yacht A

Belonging to Andrey Melnichenko , his megayacht was seized by Italian authorities on March 11, and is worth $578 million .

Sailing Yacht A is the world's largest sailing yacht at around 469 feet long and has eight decks.

Melnichenko, who is worth $11 billion according to Forbes, founded fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and coal energy company SUEK.  

Spanish authorities seized Valerie on March 14. In a televised speech, however, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez did not name the owner. Two sources told Reuters that it belonged to oligarch Sergei Chemezov, and the yacht is worth $153 million. 

Related stories

Chemezov, CEO of Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec was named in US sanctions in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. The most recent US sanctions also target Chemezov's wife, son, and stepdaughter.

Linked to Igor Sechin , Crescent was seized by Spain, two weeks following Amore Vero being seized by France.

The yacht is worth $600 million. 

Lady Anastasia

Spain detained Lady Anastasia, which is owned by Alexander Mikheev, on March 15. 

Mikheev is the CEO of Russian state-owned military weapons company, Rosoboronexport. He was sanctioned by the US on March 15. 

The yacht was subject to a  sinking attempt from a Ukrainian crew member while it was docked in Mallorca on February 26. 

Worth $50 million, Phi was seized by the UK after mooring in London for an awards ceremony. 

The National Crime Agency did not reveal the name of the owner but mentioned it belongs to a Russian businessman and that the yacht is valued at £38 million ($49.9 million.)

Gibraltar's government said it seized the $75 million superyacht belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch. 

Dmitry Pumpyansky, who has an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, is the owner of Russia's largest steel-pipe-maker, TMK. 

Alexei Mordashov's building complex , worth $116 million, was seized on March 18 in Portisco, Sardinia, Italy.

Swiss authorities, who broke their neutral status to adopt sanctions,  seized a mountain home , believed to belong to oligarch Petr Aven.

According to Reuters , Italy authorities seized both Alisher Usmanov's luxury villa worth $19 million in Sardinia, and Russian politician Oleg Savchenko's mansion worth $3 million in Tuscany. 

Some properties in the UK, which have not been seized or detained but belong to sanctioned individuals, have been frozen. Squatters entered the mansion belonging to Oleg Deripaska in Belgrave Square, London on March 14.

The UK detained two jets belonging to Eugene Shvidler — $45 million Bombardier Global 6500 (not pictured) and $13 million Cessna Citation Latitude. Shvidler was added to the UK sanctions list on March 24, which said he had "close business links to Roman Abramovich." 

Shvidler partnered with Abramovich to gain control of oil giant Sibneft via an auction in 1995, and he was chairman of Abramovich's investment and asset management company Millhouse LLC, but stepped down when Abramovich was sanctioned.  

• Main content

A Yacht Owner’s Worst Nightmare

Nabbing a billionaire’s large boat is more complicated than you might think.

After the Soviet Union crumbled, dozens of Russian businessmen enriched themselves by buying up stakes in Russia’s commodity industries at rock-bottom prices. In later years, these men protected their wealth by cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Then, these oligarchs did what any self-respecting billionaire would do: They bought large, beautiful boats. Russian oligarchs, who now own about 10 percent of all superyachts, have boats with helicopter pads, swimming pools, “ infinite wine cellars ,” and hot tubs stabilized against the motion of the waves. And now all their boats are belong to us .

Or at least, that’s the idea. Ukraine’s allies are scrambling to seize the oligarchs’ yachts in order to punish Putin for invading Ukraine, by putting the squeeze on his buddies. Sadly, though the yacht-seizing is undoubtedly the most badass element of Putin’s global castigation, it has also proved to be more complicated, and less gratifying, than it sounds.

I was hoping for exciting nighttime combat on the high seas, but the process of detaining a yacht is rather boring. Most of the 16 yacht “seizures” that have occurred so far have been more like freezes, according to Alex Finley, a writer and former CIA officer who has been tracking the seizures. First, a country will notice that a large, majestic vessel is parked in one of its shipyards and attempt to ascertain its true owner—a process that requires cracking open shell company after shell company, a nesting doll of paperwork, if you will. If the yacht is indeed connected to an oligarch, the country’s port authority simply forbids the yacht to move. The yacht remains at the dock, and the oligarch can’t use it for a while. The owners aren’t usually on their yachts when the boats are seized, Finley told me, so there are unfortunately no images of carabinieri dragging away tuxedoed men as they curse in Russian. Nor are the boats chained to the docks with comically large padlocks, as I had hoped. “They just are not given permission to leave,” Finley said.

Some countries are deregistering the yachts, negating their insurance, which discourages the boat from sailing off. An Italian official who was not authorized to give reporters his name told me that the boats are simply floating in the harbor, with no one allowed to get on. This person then sent me some videos of Italian officials walking around a dock in a calm and unhurried manner.

The real drama seems to happen either before or after the yachts are seized. For instance, one Russian-owned superyacht, the Ragnar, got stuck in Norway because port workers refused to refuel it. A group of young Ukrainian sailors motored out to protest the billionaire Chelsea F.C. owner Roman Abramovich’s superyacht as it docked in Turkey, shouting, “Go away, Russian ship!” and “No war in Ukraine!” The Ukrainian chief engineer of the Lady Anastasia, which news reports say belongs to the Russian oligarch Alexander Mikheev, tried to sink the ship while it was docked in Mallorca by opening up the valves in her engine room. (All boats are female, even the ones violating international law.) Spanish authorities soon arrived to pump out the water and arrest the engineer.

European countries have seized the most yachts so far, but the U.S. Justice Department has also launched a task force that aims, in part, to seize Russian yachts. When I asked about this operation—called KleptoCapture—the agency responded with an email saying, “DOJ is interested in identifying all properties of sanctioned oligarchs and ensuring, to the extent possible, that those assets are ‘blocked’ from use or enjoyment.” If a yacht can be traced to criminal conduct, the agency said, “DOJ is interested in going further, where possible, and actually forfeiting the property.” On Monday, U.S. federal agents seized their first such yacht, the 255-foot-long Tango, owned by the billionaire Putin ally Viktor Vekselberg, at a port on a Spanish island. (That seizure footage , too, showed Spanish and American cops quietly standing around the yacht’s wheelhouse with their arms folded.) “Today marks our taskforce’s first seizure of an asset belonging to a sanctioned individual with close ties to the Russian regime,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a press release. “It will not be the last.”

Dealing with these seized yachts, though, can be kind of a headache. If left in brackish water for months, the boats’ hulls will corrode and, eventually, the yachts could sink. “If the ultraviolet light from the sun causes seals around the windows to perish, then you’ll get freshwater ingress from rain,” says Benjamin Maltby, a partner at Keystone Law who specializes in yachts. This could become an issue for the countries doing the seizing. “If in a year or two’s time the owner turns up and finds that these yachts are not in good condition, then there will almost certainly be a claim arising,” Maltby told me. In France, La Ciotat Shipyards told Reuters that it doesn’t know whom to bill for the mooring fees of the Amore Vero, a seized superyacht said to be owned by the oligarch Igor Sechin.

When the U.S. government seizes, say, a Lexus or a helicopter from a drug dealer, it takes on the cost of storing and maintaining it. “The government doesn’t own it yet,” says Stef Cassella, an expert on asset-forfeiture law . “It still belongs to the other guy, and he might get it back. And if he gets it back, then he has a right to get it back in the same condition that it was in before it was seized from him. Otherwise he gets to sue the government for damages.” Occasionally, the feds will pay a contractor to, say, mow the lawn of an alleged drug kingpin’s mansion or half-heartedly run the small business that was previously a front for money laundering.

Sometimes, U.S. marshals, who are the custodians of seized property, place yachts in dry storage facilities, where they are less likely to deteriorate. The oligarchs’ boats are too big for that, though; they have to be kept in the water. Still, “U.S. marshals don’t want to crew a yacht,” Cassella told me. Apathetic bureaucrats tend not to be as conscientious about yacht maintenance as the boats’ Russian oil-magnate owners. The government might opt to just reach an agreement with the oligarch to maintain the yacht while it’s under seizure.

Because of these upkeep challenges, the government typically tries to avoid seizing things that are too high-maintenance. After a few cases in which prosecutors seized thoroughbred horses, then were stuck having to feed and groom several criminally implicated equines, the government handed down a new rule of thumb: “If it eats, don’t seize it,” says Steven Welk, the former asset-forfeiture chief in the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

To permanently take a yacht, as opposed to just keeping its owner from using it, American authorities must show that the boat is connected to criminal activity. A billionaire oligarch would surely challenge such a claim, and he may get his yacht back eventually. If he loses and forfeits his yacht, the government would put it up for auction, at which point anyone could buy it, other than government employees and the oligarch himself.

But that’s if the Justice Department is able to yank the yachts out of foreign waters in the first place. Because European countries have been cooperating with the Americans, several oligarchs’ yachts have sped away from the Mediterranean and over to Turkey or Dubai, which are seen as friendlier to Russia. Some of the yachts stopped “pinging”—sending marine-traffic data—then resurfaced near Russia itself . “One yacht, for example, Nord, had pinged down around the Maldives, and then she disappeared for several days and finally reappeared, clearly making her way through the straits of Malaysia and up toward Vladivostok,” Finley said.

Foreign governments are not always as helpful as U.S. authorities wish they would be. During his time as a prosecutor, Welk once tried to seize a $2 million yacht, the Rive de Mer, that belonged to an American fraudster who had fled to Mexico aboard the boat. Welk asked Mexican officials to arrest the man and surrender the yacht to U.S. officials. “They did grab him and bring him to Tijuana and give him to us,” Welk said. “But they kept his yacht.”

A few years later, Welk got a call from a yacht broker in Panama who had bought the fraudster’s boat from the Mexican government.

“What would happen if somebody bought that yacht and brought it to the United States?” the broker asked.

“If I know where it is, and it’s in U.S. waters, I’m going to take it,” Welk said.

But he never heard anything more about it, so he never did.

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The U.S. Seizes a Russian Oligarch Yacht

Here’s all the boats taken so far..

In early March, a European vogue for seizing Russian oligarch yachts swept the world. And then the fad stopped — until now . This morning, observers reported Spanish police and the FBI entering Tango , a yacht docked in the stunning harbor of Palma de Mallorca. Tango is owned by Viktor Vekselberg , a friend of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. Here, to our knowledge, are all the boats seized so far in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine .

Owner : Viktor Vekselberg. Seized by : The United States, in its first high-seas adventure, in cooperation with Spanish authorities, who have become experts in the taking of big boats. The U.S. sanctioned “Kremlin insider” Vekselberg, who has a U.S. green card and residences in the New York City area, in early March. It’s also after his plane, an Airbus A319. On: ~ April 4. Current location: Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Owner: Vladimir Strzhalkovsky. Seized by: It’s not technically seized, and its owner is not on the E.U. sanction list even. But the big sleek boat is in Norway and everyone is refusing to give it fuel . So it’s … stranded? Beached? On: March 16. Current location: Narvik.

Owner: Igor Sechin, most probably (people like to say Putin owns this boat, is why we say that). Former Putin deputy and former head of Russian state oil company; also, he’s single! Seized by: Spain. On: Possibly March 4, but widely announced March 16. Current suspected location: Tarragona , Catalonia.

Lady Anastasia

Owner: Alexander Mikheyev. Runs the helicopters division of a subsidiary of Rostec; the yacht just survived an attack last month by a Ukrainian sailor. He told the crew to abandon ship and then tried to sink it. “I don’t regret anything I’ve done,” he said. ( He was arrested .) Seized by: Spain. On: March 15. Last location: Calvia, a Mallorca marina.

Owner: Sergei Chemezov. KGB man, Putin pal from Dresden, CEO of Rostec; barred from entering the U.S. since 2014 (whom among us). Seized: March 14. By: Spain. Location: Barcelona.

Sailing Yacht A

Owner: Andrey Melnichenko. Made his riches in banking and fertilizer; certainly a billionaire; once hired Jennifer Lopez to do a private concert for his wife’s birthday. Has another extremely large boat, the Motor Yacht A , which we’re keeping an eye on. Seized: ~ March 11 . By: Italy. Suspected current location: Trieste.

Owner: Alexei Mordashov. They like to call him Russia’s richest man, because he probably is (we say “probably” because Putin kind of owns everything); has another very nice boat, Nord , but it’s in Seychelles, where it won’t be grabbed … at this time. Seized by: Italy. On: ~ March 4. Suspected current location: Imperia.

Owner: Igor Sechin. Sometimes you need two boats, after all. (Then you have none.) Seized by: France. On: March 3. Current location: La Ciotat.

Owner: Gennady Timchenko. When your friend (Putin) gives you a license to enrich yourself in the oil trade, what could go wrong? Besides being sanctioned since 2014 . Seized by: Italy. On: ~March 5. Current location: Sanremo.

Owner: Alisher Usmanov. Seized by: Germany. On: March 3 (?). Current location: Hamburg? Status: Dilbar is either seized or frozen; at the very least, the staff ( 96 of them ) wasn’t able to be paid and so the boat is effectively impounded no matter what.

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What happens to Russian mega yachts once they are seized?

Boats that became symbol of oligarch wealth now front and centre in west’s bid to squeeze vladimir putin’s closest allies, article bookmarked.

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For years, they have been symbols of the extraordinary wealth accrued by oligarchs. Now, superyachts are front and centre of the West’s race to sanction those closest to Russian president Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine .

Several have so far been seized by European governments.

They include billionaire Alexei Mordashov’s £45 million boat Lady M and a £444m boat - one of the world’s largest yachts - owned by businessman Andrey Melnichenko, both of which were seized by authorities in Italy.

Russian oligarch Igor Sechin’s 280-foot Amore Vero was seized by authorities near Marseille, France . Days later, Spain also announced it was detaining £458m superyacht ‘Crescent’ said to belong to Mr Sechin, a close ally of Mr Putin and head of Russian oil giant Rosneft.

A $75m (£7m) superyacht owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Dmitry Pumpyansky - chairman and owner of steel pipe manufacturer OAO TMK - has also been seized in Gibraltar.

But such seizures, it seems, may be the easy part for authorities. What happens next could well be the difficult – and the costly – bit.

That’s because impounding a boat in this way doesn’t mean the state takes ownership of it. Rather it means the superyacht is simply frozen from being used or sold by its oligarch owner.

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It falls, essentially, into a sort of legal limbo.

Deciding what to do with such vessels next and who has the right to have a say - as well who gets the proceeds of any future sales - is almost certain to spark court battles and appeals that will likely last years.

As Benjamin Maltby, a partner at Keystone Law, told CNBC this week – “we’re in uncharted water, the situations we’re seeing now have never really occurred before”.

Under current laws across most of Europe, for a government to actually take ownership of any asset, it would have to be able to prove that the particular asset in question was either used as part of a crime or bought with the proceeds of illegal activity.

Trying to tie a superyacht to clear evidence of criminality in Russia – even if criminality took place – would appear almost impossible, experts suggest.

Which means that, to all intents and purposes, the yachts stay in a sort of legal grey zone: not owned by the state that seizes them but with their owners unable to access them, sail them or sell them.

It is unclear who will even pay the cost to keep them berthed and maintained - which itself does not come cheap.

Technically, it is thought the oligarchs themselves would be responsible for these costs. Except, under the current sanctions, they aren’t allowed to exchange money with western authorities.

It is, as Mr Maltby said, “a Gordian knot”. And it may well remain one for years to come.

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National Security

A russian oligarch's $90 million yacht is seized as part of u.s. sanctions.

A Civil Guard stands by the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on Monday. U.S. federal agents and Spain's Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. Francisco Ubilla/AP hide caption

A Civil Guard stands by the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on Monday. U.S. federal agents and Spain's Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch.

Spanish officials have seized a Russian-owned luxury yacht in Mallorca at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. It was the first coordinated seizure under the department's Task Force KleptoCapture, which is tasked with enforcing the sweeping sanctions placed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

The $90 million 255-foot yacht, named Tango, is owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who heads the Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate with interests in metallurgy, machinery, energy, telecommunications as well as others.

"Today marks our taskforce's first seizure of an asset belonging to a sanctioned individual with close ties to the Russian regime. It will not be the last," said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. "Together, with our international partners, we will do everything possible to hold accountable any individual whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war."

The seizure was performed by Spanish Guardia Civil officers with assistance from the FBI.

U.S. officials allege that the Tango has been owned continuously by Vekselberg since 2011 and that he used shell companies to " obfuscate his interest in the Tango ," the Justice Department said in a press release.

The release cites alleges bank fraud and money laundering as justification for the seizure, highlighting U.S. bank payments for support and maintenance of the vessel — including a December 2020 stay at a luxury water villa resort in the Maldives.

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Russian oligarch's seized yacht costs $7 million a year to maintain, US says

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Spain seizes another Russian yacht believed to belong to an oligarch.

The ship was impounded in the Spanish port of Tarragona pending an inspection to establish its exact ownership, Spain’s transport ministry said.

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By Raphael Minder and Michael Forsythe

• March 16, 2022

MADRID — Spain, which has pledged to seize the suspected superyachts of Russian oligarchs targeted for sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on Wednesday impounded the third such vessel, one of the world’s biggest superyachts, in Spanish territorial waters this week.

The ship was impounded in the Spanish port of Tarragona, pending an inspection to establish its exact ownership, Spain’s transport ministry said in a statement. The ship, called the Crescent, was registered in the Cayman Islands.

The Spanish authorities have taken similar measures against two other yachts, the Valerie, which was in a maintenance yard in Barcelona, and Lady Anastasia, a yacht that was moored in Port Adriano, on the Spanish island of Majorca.

Spain’s hunt for Russian-owned superyachts comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the seizure of the Valerie on Monday and warned that “there will be more.”

The transport ministry said on Wednesday that if the inspections confirmed that the yachts belonged to people on the sanctions list drawn up by the European Union, they would remain fully immobilized.

The Valerie is suspected of being indirectly owned by Sergei Chemezov, the head of Rostec, a Russian industrial conglomerate that also makes military technology and equipment. The vessel was one of four Russian-owned superyachts that had recently been undergoing work at MB92, a shipyard that has helped establish Barcelona as one of the main hubs for the extravagant yachts owned by the super wealthy.

The Crescent, valued by the SuperYachtFan website at $600 million, appears to be the sister ship of the slightly larger, slightly more expensive Scheherazade, a 459-foot superyacht that U.S. officials said could be associated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Both were built at the same German shipyard, Lurssen, where the Crescent was given the project name “ Thunder ,” while the Scheherazade, put into service about two years later, was called “Lightning.” Both share the same interior and exterior designers and have been managed by a Monaco company, Imperial Yachts, which caters to Russian oligarchs.

The two yachts also share another, unusual characteristic: Photos of the Crescent taken on March 13 by a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, Alex Finley, in the Spanish port where it was impounded appear to show that the Crescent conceals its nameplate while in port, just like the Scheherazade .

Track information on the Crescent from MarineTraffic , a maritime data provider, shows that Crescent spends most of its time in the Mediterranean, cruising between Spain, Italy, France and Montenegro, a popular destination for the yachts of Russian oligarchs. The 445-foot long Crescent, one of the 20 largest superyachts , has been at the Tarragona marina since early November.

Last week Italian police said they were investigating the ownership of the Scheherazade, which is in dry dock at a port on the Tuscany coast.

The Lady Anastasia, which was impounded on the island of Mallorca, is believed to be owned by Alexander Mikheev, a Russian arms dealer. In late February, the police on Majorca detained a Ukrainian member of the yacht’s crew because he had been planning to sink the vessel, in retaliation for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was released on bail, pending an investigation.

In early March, the French authorities seized a yacht in a yard in La Ciotat, which they said was linked to Igor Sechin, the chief executive of the state oil company Rosneft and a former deputy prime minister of Russia. The French yard is owned by MB92, the Spanish company that owns the yard in Barcelona.

MB92 said at the time that it was cooperating with the French authorities and would respond in due course to any possible further sanctions against Russians. “We are continuously monitoring the decisions taken by the Spanish authorities, the European Union and the U.S. as they come into effect,” the company said.

Raphael Minder  covers Spain and Portugal, based in Madrid. He previously worked for Bloomberg News in Switzerland and for the Financial Times in Paris, Brussels, Sydney and finally Hong Kong. More about Raphael Minder

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

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A seized superyacht shows up in Everett — minus one Russian oligarch owner

EVERETT — It’s not clear whether Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov had plans to visit Puget Sound this spring — the French Riviera is more the style of the U.S.-sanctioned mining and energy multibillionaire.

But Monday morning, the Amadea, a 348-foot, $300 million-plus superyacht said to be owned by Kerimov, arrived in the Port of Everett to have some work done at a local shipyard. 

A sleek, white shark of a ship with a knifelike bow, raked profile and quarters for 16 guests and 36 crew, Amadea swanned past Everett’s industrial waterfront with a tug escort and all the made-for-TV glamour of an international celebrity fugitive. Kerimov, of course, was not on board.

In 2022, Amadea (“God’s love” in Latin) was seized in Fiji at the request of U.S. authorities who claim Kerimov has enabled Russian aggression in Ukraine and Syria. Money laundering and conspiracy were also alleged.

At the time, the seizure was hailed as a warning to “every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide — not even in the remotest part of the world,” as a deputy U.S. attorney general put it in a press statement . 

But as any boat owner in this boat-focused community will tell you , seizing a superyacht is one thing. Maintaining its value as an asset is another — especially when the asset is the size of a ferry and equipped with a theater, a gym, beauty salon, teak decks, 30-foot-long pool, helipad and twin 5,766-horsepower diesels. 

“They’re saying it’s costing us $7 million a year to keep it up,” said Chris Petersen, a retired fisherman who runs a metal coatings shop on West Marine View Drive, a few blocks from the port and who, like many here, has been following the superyacht saga since Monday.

Indeed, fuel, maintenance, insurance and salary for the crew of Amadea during its impoundment in San Diego ran around $740,000 a month, according to federal court filings by the Marshals Service. 

In February, the Justice Department told a federal court it intended to halt this “excessive … drain on the public” purse by auctioning off Amadea, which the government claims Kerimov acquired in 2021.

But selling off this excessive drain has been complicated. 

There is litigation challenging Amadea’s seizure because the vessel allegedly wasn’t owned by Kerimov, but by another Russian oligarch, who is not sanctioned, according to court papers. 

Another complication, more relevant to Everett: Amadea’s insurance policy, according to court filings, requires service that can only be done by hauling the vessel out of the water — a job that appears to be slated for the dry dock facilities at Everett Ship Repair, on the port’s East Waterway. 

Few details of the project have been shared. Port officials have referred all questions to Everett Ship Repair, whose vice president of service sales, Lane Richards, politely declined to comment.

But a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed Thursday that Amadea was indeed “in Washington for standard dry dock maintenance.”

And on Wednesday, the vessel in question could be seen berthed, like a slightly lost Imperial Starship, on the south side of Pier 3, adjacent to Everett Ship Repair’s dry dock and the Washington State Ferry Salish. 

All the no-commenting has only added to the atmosphere of maritime intrigue and speculation in a town ordinarily unperturbed by big, secrecy-shrouded ships, including those at the nearby Everett Naval Station. 

Many here wonder why the U.S. government spent the money to bring Amadea all the way to Everett, when there are dry dock facilities in San Diego, San Francisco and Portland; even Seattle is 5 nautical miles closer to San Diego. 

Amadea’s fuel burn “is probably in the 8-to-10 gallons per mile range,” said Dennis Butterfield, a retired car dealership manager and former boat owner, as he kept an eye on the Russian superyacht Wednesday from a viewpoint on Warren Avenue. “That’s the United States government at work, if you ask me.”

Butterfield’s estimate was close: based on vessel specifications featured on the yachting website, YachCharterFleet , the 4,400-ton Amadea burns roughly 11 gallons per mile at a cruising speed of 15 mph.

The Justice Department declined to justify Amadea’s four-day journey from San Diego to Everett.

Such secrecy would likely suit Kerimov, who Forbes once described as “one of the most private Russian billionaires,” and who is also said to have close ties to the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The 58-year-old serves in the Russian Federation Senate, is reportedly worth nearly $11 billion and has owned villas on the French Riviera and elsewhere.

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He may also have owned a rare Fabergé egg, according to accounts of the search of the Amadea after its seizure .

Beginning in 2017, Kerimov was listed by U.S. officials as one of a number of Russian oligarchs “who profit from the Russian government through corruption and its malign activity around the globe .”

In March 2022, after the FBI reportedly linked Kerimov to the Amadea , the vessel was seized under a program known as Task Force KleptoCapture and eventually sailed to San Diego under an American flag.

But Amadea’s more recent trip likely had less to do with the vessel’s checkered lineage than with a shortage of West Coast dry dock capacity, especially for large vessels. 

Unlike the East Coast and the Gulf Coast, ship repair infrastructure on the West Coast is “is woefully undersized,” said Craig Hooper, a former naval ship building industry executive who writes and advises on security and defense issues.

In recent decades, several private shipyards with dry dock facilities have closed and building new capacity faces high costs and regulatory hurdles, Hooper said. As a result, “long transits to an open facility are relatively commonplace these days,” he added. 

In the case of the Amadea, Hooper hypothesized, “the responsible party may have put the job out for bid and an Everett yard was the available, lowest-cost option.”

According to court filings, Amadea’s dry dock work is expected to cost $5.6 million and take two months. 

By that time, federal officials may have sorted Amadea’s other complications. 

Last fall, attorneys for Eduard Khudainatov, the former head of state-owned oil company Rosneft, claimed Amadea isn’t owned by Kerimov, but by Khudainatov. Attorneys argue that since Khudainatov wasn’t under sanctions, the yacht was “not forfeitable, as it neither constitutes nor is derived from any unlawful activity.”

But federal prosecutors contend “that Khudainatov is just a straw owner put forward to disguise Kerimov’s ownership of the vessel,” according to an April 19 filing in a federal court in New York, where the case is ongoing.

In the meantime, Everett will take some pleasure in the Amadea’s august presence. 

Port of Everett officials, though tight-lipped about the vessel’s particulars, were clearly pleased by the message it sends of the port’s growing status as a maritime hub.

“Anything that puts Everett on the international map is a good thing!” said Kate Anderson, port spokesperson, in an email response to an inquiry about the Amadea.

Locals, too, appeared to be enjoying the celebrity by association.

“That magnitude of wealth — it’s just another world,” said Petersen, the retired fisherman.

Others wondered who would be foolish enough to buy a vessel whose ownership was being contested by Russian oligarchs.

But mostly, folks here appeared to sympathize with Uncle Sam’s desire to be rid of the costly, controversial craft. 

That was the sentiment of John Mostrom, who had taken a break from mowing his lawn Wednesday to peer down at the Amadea from the Warren Avenue overlook. 

“They say the two happiest days of a boat owner’s life,” Mostrom noted, “are when they buy the boat and when they sell it.”

The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.

The Daily Digest

A pro-Russian oligarchs superyacht is being auctioned off to help Ukraine

Posted: 3 May 2024 | Last updated: 3 May 2024

It will be a historic moment

A pro-Russian oligarch and former Ukrainian lawmaker is having his seized mega yacht sold at auction so the proceeds can help fund the ongoing defense of Ukraine according to the country’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency. 

Assets from corruption and other crimes

Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency is a government body in charge of “tracing, and dealing with assets derived from corruption and other crimes” according to Business Insider and it reported on a history-making auction. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Alf van Beem, Own Work, CC0

Viktor Medvedchuk’s luxury superyacht

In an April 23rd post on its website, the agency revealed that Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk’s luxury superyacht My Royal Romance was selected to be auctioned off with the proceeds intended to support the defense of Ukraine. 

A symbolic sale to benefit Ukraine

“Sale of Medvedchuk's yacht is not only symbolic, as it can be the first impetus and demonstration to the entire community that the assets of traitors to Ukraine will be used for the benefit of Ukraine,”  the asset recovery agency explained. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Tjerk Zweers, CC BY 2.0

A new era of transparency and accountability

“This case also sends a clear message to oligarchs and corrupt officials that their illicit assets will be identified, seized, and realized for the benefit of the Ukrainian people,” the post noted, adding Ukraine had entered “a new era of transparency and accountability.”

Meant to inspire other countries

The precedent is meant to help inspire other countries that have seized Russian assets from corrupt individuals according to the agency and it noted that it expects that the sale of Medvedchuk’s yacht will be a powerful incentive for further corruption reforms.  

Troostwijk Auctions will auction the yacht

The Dutch auction firm Troostwijk Auctions was selected by Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency to navigate the sale of Medvedchuk’s yacht, which is a very impressive vessel according to its manufacturer's website. 

By MARKmobil.eu, Own Work, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Royal Romance

The Royal Romance is a 92-meter or roughly 300-foot vessel that the Dutch shipbuilder Feadship called a “pure custom creation.” The yacht was built back in 2015 and can host upwards of 14 guests and 21 crewmembers in 7 staterooms. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Kasa Fue, Own Work, CC BY-SA 4.0

A unique ship

“Her large size is used to great effect to provide splendid accommodation for the owners and twelve guests, who are served by some 22 crew members,” Feadship wrote about the Royal Romance on its website. 

Photo Credit: YouTube @SourceLuxuryTV

Medvedchuk and his yacht

Business Insider reported that Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian lawmaker who had his citizenship revoked for his pro-Russian activities, was the owner of My Royal Romance but the story of the ship's detention is a complicated one. 

Arrested after the invasion

Medvedchuk was arrested by Ukrainian counterintelligence in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and he was charged with treason. However, Medvedchuk was later swapped in a prisoner exchange with Russia for 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war. 

The ship was seized in Croatia

My Royal Romance was seized by Croatia in 2022 and officials were hoping to sell the yacht at auction according to Superyacht Times. However that never happened, and in January 2024, ownership of the vessel was turned over to Ukraine.

A tireless process

Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency reported that it has been working tirelessly for ten months to sell Medvedchuk’s yacht. However, no time frame for when the auction of the yacht would take place was given. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Bernhard Holub, Own Work, CC BY-SA 4.0

How much is the yacht worth?

The Maritime Executive reported that My Royal Romance was worth $200 million but it is also unclear if the ship will be able to fetch such a steep price at auction. 

A complicated problem

“Selling yachts owned by those sanctioned by Ukrainian and Western governments has proved to be a headache,” wrote Business Insider’s Thibault Spirlet, who noted many of the vessels are “frozen” rather than seized so can’t be sold without special permission.  

Unclear possibilities

Spirlet reported that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted many governments to enact sanctions on Russia’s wealthiest individuals, which included seizing multi-million dollar superyachts, but added that two years on it is still unclear if they can be sold. 

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Eric Schmidt was supposed to buy a yacht once owned by a Russian oligarch. Here's the one he bought instead.

Last year, Eric Schmidt made waves in the yachting community when news came out that he was the soon-to-be owner of the Alfa Nero, an 81-meter megayacht that belonged to a sanctioned Russian oligarch .

• Eric Schmidt backed out of buying the Alfa Nero megayacht last year.
• He instead purchased the Kismet, formerly owned by Shahid Khan, and renamed her Whisper.
• The ship — one of the biggest yachts owned by a tech billionaire —was listed for about $161 million.

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The former Google CEO, who is worth $32.1 billion, per Bloomberg, was to pay $67.6 million for the yacht, which was being auctioned off by the government of Antigua and Barbuda , where the ship had been moored since February 2022, the month Russia invaded Ukraine. The small Caribbean nation had been spending $28,000 a week simply to maintain the mammoth boat.

But as the sale proceedings went on, legal challenges piled up as people laid claim to Alfa Nero, and Schmidt backed out of the deal.

It didn't take long for him to rebound, though. In September 2023, just three months after he won the Alfa Nero auction, the billionaire purchased Kismet, renaming her Whisper, Business Insider has learned.

A spokesperson for Schmidt declined to comment to Business Insider.

The 95-meter-long yacht, built by the renowned German shipyard Lrssen and delivered in 2014, was formerly owned by the Jacksonville Jaguar's billionaire owner, Shahid Khan — hence images of the cat featured on her figurehead and throughout her decor.

Whisper, which can fit at least a dozen guests and a crew of 28 features a master deck with a private jacuzzi, as well as a full-service spa, lap pool, hammam, and outdoor fireplace. Made for entertaining, the megayacht has a cinema, a grand piano, and two helipads — one of which doubles as a basketball court and the other than transforms into a disco.

Her interior was designed to "create a feeling of relaxed opulence, based on a 'Champagne & Caviar' theme," according to the brokerage that sold the ship.

While the yacht's final sale price was not public, she was listed for 149 million euros (about $161 million at current exchange rates).

At a charity auction in January, one week aboard the ship went for $2.4 million, according to industry outlet Yacht Charter Fleet — a steal, considering she typically goes for $3 million a week.

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin more confident than ever after inauguration speech; plot to 'kill Zelenskyy' stopped

Vladimir Putin has been officially sworn in as Russian president for a new six-year term, although many Western nations did not attend. The ruler seems more confident than ever. Elsewhere, Ukraine says it has foiled a plot to kidnap and kill President Zelenskyy.

Tuesday 7 May 2024 19:09, UK

• Putin sworn in again as president | Claims Russia would work with West
• 'We elect our president': Kremlin defends 'purely democratic' Russia
• Ivor Bennett analysis: Painted as a modern-day Tsar, Putin seems more confident than ever
• Plot to 'kidnap and kill Zelenskyy' stopped, Ukraine says
• Many nations boycott Putin's inauguration ceremony
• Putin has 85% approval rating - here's why
• Big picture : What you need to know as a new week begins
• Your questions answered: Why can't Ukraine destroy key Crimean bridge?
• Live reporting by Lauren Russell  and Ollie Cooper

We're pausing our live coverage of the war in Ukraine for the time being - thanks for tuning in.

Before you go, here is a recap of today's developments.

• Vladimir Putin was officially sworn in again as Russian president, marking the start of his fifth term in office;
• During his inaugural speech, Mr Putin said he is willing to work with the West, but it is down to them to cooperate with Russia;
• Two people have been arrested after Ukraine's intelligence agency foiled a plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy;
• The widow of former Putin critic Alexei Navalny criticised Mr Putin on the day of his inauguration calling him a murderer and a liar.

By Ivor Bennett , Moscow correspondent

Held inside the throne room of the Tsars, the ceremony felt almost like a coronation rather than an inauguration.

And that was part of the point. The symbolism was key.

Andreyevsky Hall, where Vladimir Putin took the oath of office, is dripping with gold. 

It oozes power. 

I think this was an attempt to paint him as a modern-day Tsar, who is the rightful ruler of Russia.

The other aim was to add the stamp of electoral legitimacy to his leadership, and his policies. 

The Kremlin’s chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov told me beforehand that this was just part of the "democratic" political process (see our 13.35 post).

The speech was typical Putin - talking up Russia's greatness, blaming the West for Moscow's isolation and doubling down on his current path of conflict abroad and a crackdown at home.

He said he ranks the safety of the Russian people "above all else".  

Translation - we're in this for the long haul. 

But whose fault is Russia’s status as a global pariah? 

Not ours, he said. 

This was all part of the Kremlin's narrative to portray the West as the aggressor, and Russia as the victim.

What might concern people both at home and abroad was the tone of the speech.

For example, he gave a thinly veiled warning that protest will not be tolerated, saying it’s important "not to forget the tragic price of internal turmoil", adding that Russia must be "absolutely resistant" to it.

And the last line: "We will overcome all obstacles and bring all our plans to life."

Vladimir Putin seems more confident than ever.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said Europe needs to spend "big money" in order to prevent other powers in the world from "raising a hand against it". 

Speaking at a conference in the Polish city of Katowice, Mr Tusk called on European countries to take joint action to increase spending on defence by at least €100bn (£85bn).

"Europe must be prepared in the next dozen or so months and the entire next five years for a situation in which no power in the world will dare raise a hand against it," he said.

"Big money will move the war away from Europe's borders for a long time, perhaps permanently."

He also repeated the idea of building a common European air defence system - saying Europe has "more initiatives than real actions". 

Due to the war in Ukraine, Poland is strengthening its defence capabilities, allocating over 4% of its GDP.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, agreed Europe must spend more on defence and declared that if she remains in office for another term she will propose new defence projects.

A Russian national has been sanctioned in the UK, US and Australia for his alleged role as the creator of the most prolific ramsomware group in the world. 

The sanctions target Dmitry Khoroshev who has been identified as one of the leaders of LockBit, the ransomware group responsible for extorting over $1bn from thousands of victims globally. 

In the US, Khoroshev has been charged with 26 counts of allegedly developing and administering a malicious cyber scheme.

The UK's foreign office said the LockBit group was behind attacks on over 200 UK businesses and major public server providers and 25% of all global ransomware attacks. 

Pro-Russian Chechen forces are baring the brunt of the frontlines in Ukraine and training Russian troops behind the scenes, the UK's Ministry of Defence says.

Around 9,000 personnel are currently serving within the Pro-Russian Chechen forces in Ukraine, which has been pushed back onto the frontline since the withdrawal of Russia's private military company, Wagner, the MoD said in its daily intelligence update. 

At the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, Chechen forces became known as "TikTok troops" for their presence on social media.

But, they have since provided personnel and given training to Russians at The Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya. 

The MoD said troops receive up to 10 days' training at the so-called university. 

Chechnya has historically always supported Russia's military action in Ukraine.

Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of using banned toxins on the battlefield. 

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is in The Hague, said that all accusations were "insufficiently substantiated".

But it added: "The situation remains volatile and extremely concerning regarding the possible re-emergence of use of toxic chemicals as weapons." 

Neither side has asked the OPCW to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons.

Last week, Russia denied allegations from the US that it had used the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and utilised riot control agents "as a method of warfare".

Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, any toxic chemical used with the purpose of causing harm or death is considered a chemical weapon.

We've been covering the fifth inauguration of Vladimir Putin as Russian president.

The ceremony took place in Moscow's Grand Kremlin Palace, and our correspondent Ivor Bennett was there to experience the entire event.

He also interviewed Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov about the state of democracy in Russia and the lack of opposition during the presidential election back in March.

Bennett asked Mr Peskov: "Western leaders and Western governments believe that Vladimir Putin has turned Russia into a dictatorship, why do you think that’s not the case?"

Mr Peskov replied: "This is not the case.

"It's just propaganda, it's rough propaganda, nothing else."

He went on to say Russia was "purely democratic", adding: "We choose our power. We elect our power. We elect our president. We vote for the president or don’t want to vote for the president.

"And we insist that we have the right to do it the way we want to do it.

"And we don’t want a third country to interfere in our choices, in our preferences."

Pressed on whether the lack of opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia was democratic, Mr Peskov said: "But there is opposition inside the country, of course the conditions are much tougher here because we are in war conditions."

Mr Peskov used the word "war" twice in the interview - typically, the Kremlin refers to its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation" - a term he also used once.

Ivor Bennett then asked if it was even more important for the public to have the right to speak out in wartime.

"No, to the contrary. It needs tougher measures to ensure the victory, to ensure that we reach our goals," Mr Peskov replied.

Asked whether this was democratic, Mr Peskov insisted: "It is, it is."

He added that the Western media in Europe and the US exists in the "same circumstances".

Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside The Hague's Peace Palace in The Netherlands to protest the inauguration of President Vladimir Putin. 

The protesters, many of whom had travelled from Germany, carried a giant carnival float that showed a caricature of the Russian leader with blood on his hands in a striped prison uniform.

They also held Ukrainian flags and placards saying: "Putin to The Hague" - which is the home of the International Court of Justice.

Dina Musina, who works for a Berlin-based charity that supports Russian prisoners, said they need to "raise awareness about Putin's crimes internationally".

A plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been uncovered by Ukraine's state security service (SBU).

The SBU claimed two agents who were posing as Ukrainian state guard servicemen were tasked by Moscow to figure out a way to capture Mr Zelenskyy and later kill him. 

They also planned to kill other high-ranking Ukrainian officials, the SBU said in a statement on Telegram . 

Head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, described the plot as a "gift to Putin before the inauguration".

The SBU said two suspects have been detained after an investigation gradually documented their alleged criminal actions.

Ukrainian claims that plots to kill Mr Zelenskyy are not new. 

The president said in 2022 there had been at least 10 attempts to assassinate him since the start of the war.

The widow of former Putin critic Alexei Navalny has criticised President Vladimir Putin on the day of his fifth inauguration as Russian leader. 

In a video posted on YouTube shortly before the ceremony took place in Moscow, Yulia Navalnaya called Mr Putin a liar, a thief and a murderer. 

She added that the war in Ukraine is "bloody and senseless" and no one wants it apart from the Russian leader.

"Huge sums of money are stolen from all of us every day to fund bombings of peaceful cities, riot police beating people with batons, propagandists spreading lies. And also for [the elite's] own palaces, yachts and private jets," she said.

"And as long as this continues, we can't stop the fight."

Having been exiled from Russia, Ms Navalnaya has vowed to continue the work of her late husband, who died in an Arctic penal colony on 16 February. 

She has accused Mr Putin of having him killed, an accusation which the Kremlin has always denied.

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