oligarch yacht watch

From yachts to lavish estates, tracking Russian assets seized so far

By Tal Yellin , CNN

Published April 13, 2022

Updated April 27, 2022

Countries are on the hunt for sanctioned Russian assets after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Thousands of Russians have since been sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, among others. Superyachts and multimillion-dollar properties have already been seized or frozen by authorities in Italy, France, Spain, the UK and Gibraltar. The United States has also launched KleptoCapture, a task force focused on those who violate sanctions and the seizing of their assets.

This interactive will continue to track known developments and help show where sanctioned Russians park their money outside of Russia. Except for Igor Sechin and Sergei Chemezov, no other oligarchs or related persons mentioned in this story responded to requests for comment from CNN.

Real estate

Other assets

April 14, 2022

“dilbar”  linked to    alisher usmanov   valued at $600-$750 million in hamburg, germany.

Germany has impounded the “Dilbar,” a superyacht connected to a Russian oligarch in Hamburg, the country’s embassy in the US tweeted . The yacht belongs to the sister of Alisher Usmanov and is worth between $600 to $750 million, according to the German Federal Criminal Police Office. Usmanov is one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires with vast domestic and international holdings. The US government sanctioned him in early March in a campaign targeting Putin’s allies, stating Usmanov is alleged to have “financial ties” to Putin. In March, Italy’s financial police seized his real estate and assets worth about $90 million. Usmanov has also been sanctioned by the European Union.

April 12, 2022

Assets  linked to    roman abramovich   valued at over $7 billion in jersey.

Authorities in the Channel island of Jersey froze more than $7 billion worth of assets “suspected to be connected to” Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, according to a government statement . The frozen assets are either located in Jersey or owned by Jersey incorporated entities, the statement said. The States of Jersey Police also executed search warrants on premises “connected to the business activities” of Abramovich. Abramovich made his fortune in steel and investments and was sanctioned by the UK in March, citing his decades-long relationship with Vladimir Putin. In a statement at the time , the UK government noted that “he is one of the few oligarchs from the 1990s to maintain prominence under Putin.” These frozen assets represent around half his net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index .

April 11, 2022

Properties  linked to    nikita mazepin   valued at $114.3 million in sardinia, italy.

A real estate compound, “Rocky Ram,” linked to Nikita Mazepin and his oligarch father Dmitry was seized in Sardinia, the Italian financial police confirmed in a statement. The police said the properties are worth 105 million euros (about $114.3 million). Nikita, a former Formula 1 Haas team driver, and his father were included on a list of individuals sanctioned by the EU in early March. The sanction list described Mazepin Sr. as “a member of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin” saying he and 36 other ”businesspeople” met with Putin and other government officials to discuss how sanctions would affect Russia. In early March, Mazepin Sr. sold his controlling stake in Uralchem Group, one of the largest producers of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers in Russia, and resigned as CEO from Uralchem JSC, a subsidiary, according to a company statement .

April 7, 2022

Assets  linked to    sanctioned russians   valued at $7.83 billion in switzerland.

Switzerland has so far frozen 7.5 billion Swiss francs (about $7.83 billion) of sanctioned Russian assets, according to a State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) spokesperson. The number of frozen assets increased from March 24, when 5.75 billion Swiss francs (about $6.18 billion) were initially frozen. Frozen assets include 11 properties throughout Switzerland. No identifiable information was revealed and no specific assets were mentioned in the initial statement. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Switzerland broke from traditional neutrality and adopted EU sanctions.

April 5, 2022

Assets  linked to    sanctioned russians   valued at $3 billion in belgium.

Belgian authorities have frozen $3 billion in Russian assets and blocked $215 billion in transactions since the start of economic sanctions, according to Belgian Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem. The frozen assets belong to 877 individuals and 62 entities on the European sanctions list, according to the statement from the Belgian Finance Ministry. The blocked transactions are the result of other restrictions imposed by the European Union on Russia.

April 4, 2022

“tango”  linked to    viktor vekselberg   valued at $90 million in mallorca, spain.

Spanish authorities seized a superyacht named “Tango,” which they say is owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg in Mallorca, according to a statement from the Spanish Civil Guard. The detained yacht was part of an operation with US federal agents and was carried out under a Spanish court order, the statement said. Vekselberg runs the Russian investment company Renova Group. He is worth approximately $16.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He was sanctioned by the United States and is “under investigation for tax fraud, money laundering and document forgery trying to hide the ownership of this superyacht to avoid sanctions” and is “very close to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin,” the Spanish Civil Guard said. Vekselberg’s case marks the first seizure for the newly formed US task force, KleptoCapture. The yacht is 78 meters long (about 256 feet) and is valued at nearly $90 million, per the US Department of Justice.

March 29, 2022

“phi”  linked to    a russian businessman   valued at $50 million in london, england.

The United Kingdom detained the “Phi” yacht belonging to an unnamed-Russian businessman with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime, according to the UK Department for Transport. The Dutch-built vessel is docked in East London’s Canary Wharf for the superyacht awards, and was planning to depart March 29. The Department of Transport claims that the ownership of the boat was “deliberately well hidden.” It sails under the Maltese flag and is registered to a company based in the Caribbean islands of St. Kitts and Nevis. The 192-foot yacht is worth approximately £38 million (about $50 million).

March 23, 2022

Assets  linked to    sanctioned russians   valued at $800 million in france.

French authorities have frozen assets linked to sanctioned Russian oligarchs valued at $800 million, according to French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal. The European Union’s latest round of sanctions in early March against Russia included measures targeting 160 oligarchs and Russian politicians. “There will be no taboo if we need to go further,” Attal said about any additional sanctions.

March 22, 2022

Assets  linked to    sanctioned russians   valued at $431 million in the netherlands.

The Netherlands has frozen nearly 392 million euros (about $431 million) in Russian assets, the Dutch Ministry of Finance told parliament in a letter seen by CNN. The ministry said that further asset freezes were expected. The European Union’s latest round of sanctions in early March against Russia included measures targeting 160 oligarchs and Russian politicians.

March 21, 2022

“axioma”  linked to    dmitry pumpyansky   valued at $75 million in gibraltar.

Authorities in Gibraltar have detained the “Axioma” yacht linked to Russian billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky, according to UK and Gibraltar government statements. Pumpyansky was sanctioned by the EU and UK and was the beneficiary of TMK PAO, Russia’s largest oil and gas steel pipe maker. He also resigned from the TMK PAO’s board of directors, the company announced . The 240-foot yacht is worth approximately $75 million, according to SuperYachtFan . Gibraltar’s ports had been closed to sanctioned individuals, but the Captain of the Port made an exception after JPMorgan Chase was granted a court order authorizing the seizure. “JPMorgan is acting pursuant to its mortgage rights,” the Gibraltar government said in a statement to CNN. JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, said in a statement in early March it was getting out of Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, citing “compliance with directives by governments around the world.”

March 18, 2022

Real estate  linked to    alexey mordaschov   valued at $116 million in sardinia, italy.

The Italian financial police seized a real estate complex belonging to Russian billionaire Alexey Mordaschov in Sardinia, according to Italy’s Prime Minister’s office. Mordaschov is the chairman of Russian mining and steel company Severstal and is one of Russia’s richest men, worth $18.5 billion, according to Forbes . The frozen real estate is worth around 105 million euros (about $116 million), per Ferdinando Giugliano, the media advisor to the Italian Prime Minister. On March 4, Mordaschov’s yacht, named “Lady M” was also seized in Italy. The 213-foot yacht is worth approximately 65 million euros (about $71 million).

March 16, 2022

“crescent”  linked to    an unknown owner   valued at $600 million in tarragona, spain.

Spanish authorities have detained a superyacht, named “Crescent” in the port of Tarragona, according to a statement from Spain’s Ministry for Transport. The 135-meter yacht flies a Cayman Islands flag and has been “provisionally detained” to establish whether it is the possession of a person or entity included in the European Council’s package of sanctions, the statement said. The yacht cost approximately $600 million, according to SuperYachtFan.

Real estate  linked to    Petr Aven   valued at $4.4 million in Sardinia, Italy

The Italian financial police froze a real estate complex belonging partially to Russian oligarch Petr Aven in Sardinia, according to a statement issued by Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s press office. The share of real estate is worth approximately 4 million euros (about $4.4 million), according to the Italian Prime Minister’s office. The billionaire stepped down earlier this month as Director of Russian private bank Alfa Bank and from the board of the investment firm he co-founded, LetterOne, after being sanctioned by the EU and UK . The European Union named Aven as “one of Vladimir Putin’s closest oligarchs,” who “regularly meet” with the Russian President in the Kremlin, and “does not operate independently of the President’s demands.”

Real estate and vehicles  linked to    Alisher Usmanov   valued at $72 million in Italy

Real estate assets and six corporate vehicles belonging to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov were seized by the Italian financial police. The seized assets are worth approximately 66 million euros (about $72 million). Usmanov is one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires with vast domestic and international holdings. The US government sanctioned him in early March in a campaign targeting Putin’s allies, stating he is alleged to have financial ties to Putin. Italy’s financial police had previously seized his real estate in the Golfo del Pevero area in Arzachena on March 4. Those assets are worth approximately 17 million euros (about $18 million).

March 15, 2022

“lady anastasia”  linked to    alexander mikheev   valued at $7 million in palma de mallorca, spain.

Spanish authorities have detained a yacht linked to Russian oligarch Alexander Mikheev, named “Lady Anastasia,” in the port of Palma de Mallorca, according to the Spanish Ministry of Transport. Mikheev is the CEO of Rosoboronexport, the only state organization in Russia that exports weapons and was sanctioned by the EU and the US. The yacht is nearly 48 meters (157 feet) long and was in the news in late February, when a crew member tried to sink the vessel in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The yacht is worth approximately $7 million, according to a listing on BOAT International.

“Valerie”  linked to    Sergei Chemezov   valued at $140 million in Barcelona, Spain

Spanish authorities seized the “Valerie” yacht reportedly linked to Russian oligarch and former KGB agent Sergei Chemezov in the port of Barcelona, according to Reuters . Chemezov is the chairman of the Rostec conglomerate and a member of the Supreme Council of ‘United Russia’, per EU sanctions . When the US sanctioned Chemezov in 2014 — as part of an effort targeting Putin’s inner circle — the government said he had known Putin since the 1980s and the two lived in the same apartment complex in East Germany. The yacht is worth approximately $140 million and will remain “provisionally immobilized” until authorities can determine its ownership. A spokesman for Chemezov denied that he is tied to the yacht.

March 11, 2022

“sailing yacht a”  linked to    andrey melnichenko   valued at $577 million in trieste, italy.

The Italian financial police seized “Sailing Yacht A” — which could be linked to Russian fertilizer and coal billionaire Andrey Melnichenko — in the port of Trieste, according to Ferdinando Giugliano, the media advisor to the Italian Prime Minister. Melnichenko was sanctioned by the EU on March 9 and has since removed himself from the boards of two companies he founded, Eurochem and SUEK, according to his spokesman Alex Andreev in a statement to CNN. At 469 feet long, the vessel is also the world’s tallest sailing yacht — taller than the Statue of Liberty — and is worth approximately 530 million euros (about $577 million).

March 4, 2022

“villa lazzareschi”  linked to    oleg savchenko   valued at $3.3 million in lucca, italy.

A 17th century villa allegedly owned by Oleg Savchenko, named “Villa Lazzareschi,” was seized by Italian financial police in the province of Lucca, according to a police statement . Savchenko is a member of the State Duma and was sanctioned by the EU. The seized Italian villa is worth approximately 3 million euros (about $3.3 million).

Real estate  linked to    Vladimir Soloviev   valued at $8.7 million in Como, Italy

Real estate properties belonging to Vladimir Soloviev were seized by the Italian financial police in the province of Como, according to a police statement . Soloviev is a Russian pro-Kremlin propagandist and TV/radio journalist, according to EU Council sanctions . The frozen Italian real estate is worth approximately 8 million euros (about $8.7 million).

Real estate  linked to    Alisher Usmanov   valued at $18 million in Arzachena, Italy

A real estate compendium belonging to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov was seized by the Italian financial police in the Golfo del Pevero area in Arzachena, according to a statement . The frozen Italian real estate is worth approximately 17 million euros (about $18 million).

Usmanov is one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires with vast domestic and international holdings, according to the US Treasury. The US government sanctioned him in early March in a campaign targeting Putin’s allies, stating he is alleged to have financial ties to Putin. The US said it sanctioned his private jet and his 512-foot superyacht named “Dilbar.”

“Lena”  linked to    Gennady Timchenko   valued at $55 million in San Remo, Italy

The Italian financial police seized Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko’s yacht, named “Lena,” in the port of San Remo, according to a police statement . Timchenko is the owner of private investment group, Volga Group. He was sanctioned by the EU in February. When the US government sanctioned Timchenko in 2014, an effort targeting Putin’s inner circle, they stated his “activities in the energy sector have been directly linked to Putin.” The 126-foot yacht is worth approximately 50 million euros (about $55 million).

“Lady M”  linked to    Alexey Mordaschov   valued at $71 million in Imperia, Italy

The Italian financial police seized Russian billionaire Alexey Mordaschov’s yacht, named “Lady M,” in the northern port of Imperia, according to a police statement . Mordaschov is the chairman of Russian mining and steel company Severstal and is one of Russia’s richest men, worth $18.5 billion, according to Forbes . The 213-foot yacht is worth approximately 65 million euros (about $71 million).

March 3, 2022

“amore vero”  linked to    igor sechin   valued at $120 million in la ciotat, france.

French authorities seized a yacht linked to Igor Sechin in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat, according to the French Finance Ministry . Sechin is the CEO of Rosneft, the Russian state oil company and one of the world’s largest crude oil producers. The yacht, named “Amore Vero” — or “True Love” in Italian — was scheduled to leave the port on April 1 after arriving in January. Sechin was deputy prime minister of Russia from 2008 until 2012. The European Union said his connections to Putin are “long and deep,” with the two men maintaining daily contact. The yacht is worth about $120 million, according to SuperYachtFan. A Sechin spokesman denied that he is tied to the yacht.

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The Internet Sleuths Obsessively Tracking the Superyachts of Russian Oligarchs

‘Seizure of the yachts feels like a little bit of justice. It sends the message that these oligarchs have to pick a side: Support the dictator or support democracy’

For the first time in several years, Ben, a 36-year-old machinist in Michigan, hasn’t been pulling up Twitter first thing in the morning. Instead, he’s been checking MarineTraffic.com — an open, community-based website that tracks the real-time movement and location of ships — to see which yachts belonging to Russian billionaire oligarchs have been seized as a part of the economic sanctions placed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. “I catch up on everything else later in the day,” he tells me. “But ever since they announced the sanctions, I can’t take my eyes away from #YachtWatch and MarineTraffic.” 

To be sure, a desire to know intimate details about billionaire yachts is nothing new. Within niche communities of maritime enthusiasts and professionals, these extraordinary yachts have always been followed and discussed in great detail. In fact, many yachts have their own Wikipedia pages , and websites like SuperYachtFan.com and SuperYachtTimes.com thrive on outlining the design, specs and ownership of these multi-million dollar vessels. But for the general public to become interested in the intricacies of billionaire yacht ownership and tracking is certainly new. 

To that end, Alex Finley, a former CIA officer turned author , had been researching oligarch yachts for her upcoming novel long before they caught the public’s eye. “I was already in tune with how the yachts and other assets play a role in Putin’s wider agenda,” she tells me. “But when I was kind of shitposting about Russian yachts on Twitter, no, I didn’t think it would turn into a crowdsourced global hunt for super yachts.” 

Good day #YachtWatch -ers. Yesterday morning, around 10am, Roman Abramovich’s other yacht [insert eye roll gif] Eclipse was tracked heading toward Gibraltar. She hasn’t pinged in about 8 hours. 1/ pic.twitter.com/cdlr6TH3rW — Alex Finley (@alexzfinley) March 11, 2022

Since creating the #YachtWatch hashtag, Finley says she’s seen the number of people like Ben who regularly check in on her updates of yacht seizures grow exponentially. “I’ve gained something like 20,000 followers in just a few days, and judging by the number of media inquiries, yeah, I guess people are interested,” she explains. 

And more than merely observe, certain people have made contributions that help improve the public’s ability to track and absorb complex maritime information. “Some mariners have helped explain some of the more technical aspects regarding AIS [ automatic identification system ] and navigation and facility infrastructure, for example,” Finley says. “Others have provided great encouragement, or remind me to sleep and hydrate, which I love.” 

Italy are still winning with an early brace, but still lots to play for. Straights of Gibraltar could prove a winning card for @RoyalNavy to get UK on the board, but a strategically timed US Transfer deal with the Maldives could beat everyone! #HuntForRedYachtober #YachtWatch https://t.co/yBOyI7cBSs — Charlie Moore (@c_moore) March 11, 2022

Elsewhere, members of the #YachtWatch community have created makeshift “BINGO” cards that show pictures of yachts along with the name of the Russian billionaire to whom they belong. Others, like Jack Sweeney , a college student who recently gained notoriety for tracking Elon Musk’s private jet, created their own Twitter accounts dedicated to the pursuit. In just over a week, his @RussianYachts account has amassed over 22,000 followers after posting information about yacht ownership and location updates. 

While I figure out more to track the yachts and choose the best solution. Here's a graphic made by @CNN of the latest locations of some of the yachts. pic.twitter.com/z9FgcJNiz2 — Russian Yachts (@RussiaYachts) March 7, 2022

Finley reckons that there’s a sense of “heightened” schadenfreude driving the massive public interest in superyacht seizures. They’re not just watching bad things happen to bad people, they’re watching people who “supported a dictator who started a totally unprovoked war” lose their toys. “These oligarchs have supported Putin’s efforts to destabilize the West and our democratic institutions, while at the same time taking advantage of those very same democratic institutions,” she says. “Seizing the yachts feels like a little bit of justice. It sends the message that these oligarchs have to pick a side: Support the dictator or support democracy. We won’t let you do both anymore.” 

Roman Abramovich's yacht Solaris looks to be heading to Montenegro, a popular place for Russian yachts. His even bigger superyacht Eclipse is in the Atlantic heading toward the Strait of Gibraltar per @MarineTraffic pic.twitter.com/o70Zzl7EEi — Mike Forsythe 傅才德 (@PekingMike) March 11, 2022

With that in mind, Finley argues that a lot of people “are getting into the hunt because they feel like they’re helping a just cause.” 

Plus, unlike most white-collar crime that gets prosecuted over the course of lengthy, closed-door legal battles, the seizure of superyachts has been swift and public. On March 3rd, French authorities took to Twitter to announce they had seized a 281-foot-long yacht belonging to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin. The $120 million vessel was in breach of the law after having attempted “to leave French territorial waters,” and was therefore seized and “immobilized” by French customs. 

Dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre des sanctions de l'Union européenne à l'encontre de la Russie et en soutien à l’Ukraine ?? nous avons procédé à la saisie d’un premier yacht. ➡️ L’Amore Vero est immobilisé en France. pic.twitter.com/ncr4UOP3OD — Olivier Dussopt (@olivierdussopt) March 3, 2022

But of all the major governments cracking down on Russian yachts so far, Ben says he’s rooting for the Italians the most. “It seems like they’re the ones who aren’t pussyfooting around, pardon my French,” he says. “I don’t know what happens to the seized properties after the fact, but I feel like the Italians could end up with an army of superyachts when this is all said and done.” 

So far, Italian authorities have officially seized at least two yachts belonging to Russia oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and Alexei Mordashov — Timchenko’s Lena, a 126-foot, $55-million beast , and Mordashov’s Lady M, a 213-foot, $71-million luxury monstrosity . 

Keeping watch on these Russian's Yacht's pic.twitter.com/BaZQeNyyKB — Russian Yachts (@RussiaYachts) March 6, 2022

According to the Washington Post , MarineTraffic.com “has seen a ‘huge spike’ in interest,” with traffic reaching “a level not seen since a massive ship got stuck in the Suez Canal one year ago.” Ben says he checks the site several times a day, working his way down the curated list of oligarch yachts he’s created there. “Right now I’m watching Clio , Tango , Palladium , Nirvana and Le Grand Bleu ,” he tells me. “Le Grand Bleu has been spinning in circles outside St. Martin for a few days now, so hopefully he runs out of fuel and is forced to make a decision soon.”

That’s when he’ll get the payoff he’s been waiting for: “The day I check my phone during a break and see one of my yachts being chased down or seized by government agents… I can’t even begin to imagine what that’ll feel like.” 

Ultimately, though, when it comes to social media-driven justice , particularly involving the rich and powerful, it’s nearly impossible to not be cynical. Is #YachtWatch just another fleeting #ResistanceTwitter saga, yacht seizures being the latest carrot dangled in front of a terminally logged-on population fruitlessly grasping for control as the world spirals toward nuclear war? Or, could the growing interest in tracking billionaire’s yachts actually lead to systemic change ? 

Melnichenko's $600,000,000 Yacht A is being seized in Italy: https://t.co/oYfVydcANQ — Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) March 12, 2022

For her part, Finley is hopeful that it’s the latter. “We arrived at this point in history partly because we in the West allowed a system that’s fueled both inequality and authoritarianism , all because businesses, politicians and the West in general were getting rich from it, too ,” she explains. “I hope the mega-yacht hunt might be a wake-up call that we need to reform the system and make it more transparent.” 

It’s certainly opened Ben’s eyes to the idea that wealth disparity isn’t merely a flaw in the system. “I’m not naive enough to think we don’t live in a world of haves and have-nots, but the sight of all those yachts, crowding around islands in the Caribbean like mayflies to a street lamp stopped me in my tracks,” he says. “It really struck me how they live in a different universe, where laws don’t exist.” 

Ben has “read everything about the tax-dodging leaks and money in the Cayman Islands,” but if it doesn’t go over his head, it just makes him feel powerless. “There’s nothing I can do about billionaires cheating the system — all these guys have gotten away with crimes because they’re billionaires,” he concludes. “But now that I know what can happen with transparency, I like to think this is the beginning of the end for them.” 

Quinn Myers

Quinn Myers is a staff writer at MEL. He reports on internet culture, technology, health, masculinity and the communities that flourish within.

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Superyacht owned by oligarch with close ties to Putin seized by U.S.

Linked to billionaire viktor vekselberg, tango is a 78-metre vessel valued at $120m us.

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The U.S. government seized a mega yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to the Russian president on Monday, the first in the government's sanctions enforcement initiative to "seize and freeze" giant boats and other pricey assets of Russian elites.

Spain's Civil Guard and U.S. federal agents descended on the yacht at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain's Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police going in and out of the boat on Monday morning.

A Civil Guard source told The Associated Press that the immobilized yacht was the Tango, a 78-metre vessel that carries a Cook Islands flag and that Superyachtfan.com, a specialized website that tracks the world's largest and most exclusive recreational boats, set its value at $120 million US.

The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg's assets in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed the seizure in a statement released by the Justice Department, which estimated the value of the vessel as "at least $90 million."

"Today marks our task force'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 Garland. "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."

Vekselberg familiar to U.S. officials

Garland and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have assembled a task force known as REPO — short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs — as an effort to enforce sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Vekselberg has long had ties to the U.S. including a green card he once held and homes in New York and Connecticut. The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminum and oil industries in the post-Soviet era.

Vekselberg was also questioned in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and has worked closely with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York investment management firm Columbus Nova.

Vekselberg and Intrater were thrust into the spotlight in the Mueller probe after the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels released a memo that claimed $500,000 US in hush money was routed through Columbus Nova to a shell company set up by Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Columbus Nova denied that Vekselberg played any role in its payments to Cohen.

Vekselberg and Intrater met with Cohen at Trump Tower, one of several meetings between members of Trump's inner circle and high-level Russians during the 2016 campaign and transition.

The 64-year-old mogul founded Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest stake in United Co. Rusal, Russia's biggest aluminum producer, among other investments.

Vekselberg was first sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, and again in March of this year, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began. Vekselberg has also been sanctioned by authorities in the United Kingdom.

• Q&A How an ex-CIA agent is tracking the luxurious superyachts of Russian oligarchs
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The U.S. Justice Department has also launched a sanctions enforcement task force known as KleptoCapture, which also aims to enforce financial restrictions in the U.S. imposed on Russia and its billionaires, working with the FBI, Treasury and other federal agencies. That task force will also target financial institutions and entities that have helped oligarchs move money to dodge sanctions.

"Today's seizure of Viktor Vekselberg's yacht, the Tango, in Spain is the result of an unprecedented multinational effort to enforce U.S. sanctions targeting those elites who have enabled Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine," said Andrew Adams, director of that task force. "For those who have tied their fortunes to a brutal and lawless regime, today's action is a message that those nations dedicated to the rule of law are equally dedicated to separating the oligarchs from their tainted luxuries."

The White House has said that many allied countries, including Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and others are involved in trying to collect and share information against Russians targeted for sanctions. In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden warned oligarchs that, "we are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

Other yachts seized

Monday's capture is not the first time Spanish authorities have been involved in the seizure of a Russian oligarch's superyacht. Officials there said they had seized a vessel valued at over $140 million US owned by the CEO of a state-owned defence conglomerate and a close Putin ally.

French authorities have also seized superyachts, including one believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

$90 Million Yacht of Sanctioned Russian Oligarch Viktor Vekselberg Seized by Spain at Request of United States <a href="https://t.co/plLXnHXdoU">https://t.co/plLXnHXdoU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DOJPH?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DOJPH</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIMinneapolis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBIMinneapolis</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HSINewYork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HSINewYork</a> &mdash; @USAO_DC

Italy has also seized several yachts and other assets.

Italian financial police moved quickly seizing the superyacht Lena belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo; the 65-metre Lady M owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, featuring six suites and estimated to be worth 65 million euros; as well as villas in Tuscany and Como, according to government officials.

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Italian Police Seize Russian Oligarch Andrey Melnichenko’s 468-Foot ‘Sailing Yacht A’

The list keeps growing with the impoundment of "sailing yacht a" and suspicion that "scheherazade" might be connected to vladimir putin., michael verdon, michael verdon's most recent stories.

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Italy’s finance police seized one of the world’s most iconic sailing yachts, owned by a Russian oligarch. Andrey Melnichenko’s Sailing Yacht A , with an estimated value of $578 million, was impounded in dry dock at the Port of Trieste, according to a statement from the Guardia di Finanzia. Melninchenko was sanctioned by the European Union on March 9 as part of a group of Russian oligarchs who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin following its Ukraine invasion to discuss the potential economic impact of EU and American sanctions.

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Melnichenko owns the major fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and SUEK, a coal company. He also owns the 390-foot Motor Yacht A. A spokesperson said in a statement that Melnichenko has nothing to do with politics and that he has removed himself from the board of Eurochem and SUEK after the EU sanctioned him. “He has no relation to the tragic events in Ukraine. He has no political affiliations,” said the statement.

US intelligence officials have also said they are trying to link the Scheherazade , a $700 million superyacht in dry dock in Italy, to Putin. The New York Times reported that the US government has made no definite conclusions about the yacht’s ownership, but believe it could be owned by the Russian president. The yacht’s captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, told the Times that Putin had no stake in the yacht, but declined to name the owner. Bennett-Pearce said he would provide Italian police with documents that divulged the owner’s name. The Italian Sea Group, which owns the shipyard where Scheherazade is dry docked, said that, based on “checks carried out by relevant authorities,” the yacht is “not attributable to the property of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

Roman Abramovich, who owns Solaris. last week was placed on the UK sanctions list.  Courtesy of Lloyd Werft

Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich was also added to the UK sanctions list days after he announced the sale of the football club. Abramovich, who owns a string of supercars and several private jets, also owns the superyachts Solaris and Eclipse. Solaris is reportedly sailing towards Israel, where Abramovich has dual citizenship.

On March 3, France’s finance ministry said that it had impounded Amore Vero , a yacht owned by Igor Sechin, CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft. The EU had sanctioned Sechin earlier that week, calling him one of Putin’s “most trusted and closest advisors, as well as his personal friend.” German authorities also detained the 512-foot superyacht Dilbar in Hamburg, owned by Alisher Usmanov. Reports said the crew was fired last week. On March 5, Italian authorities impounded two yachts, Lena and Lady M , owned by Gennady Timchenko and Alexei Mordashov, respectively.

On Friday, the US State Department placed Viktor Vekselberg on its sanctions list. Two of Vekeselberg’s luxury assets, an Airbus A319-115 jet and his yacht Tango , were identified as “blocked property.”

The superyacht Scheherazade was impounded in Italy during an investigation to uncover whether it is owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Video Still/YT

The seizures have prompted the superyacht industry to distance itself from the oligarchs. Italian yacht builders Sanlorenzo and Azimut both released statements that they have limited exposure to Russian clients, and none are on the sanctions list. Heesen Yachts released a statement that two Russians sitting on its supervisory board of directors have resigned their positions. The builder said Heesen is 100-percent Dutch-owned company and that Pavel Sukhoruchkin and Pavel Novoselov had nothing to do with its day-to-day operations.

Ownership of many Russian yachts is often hidden by shell companies in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. They are not only hard to trace, but actually seizing and selling them could present a legal quagmire that could take years to resolve.

Some are wondering whether seizing the oligarchs’ private yachts and jets will work. “Sanctions are another example of the West doing what it does best, which is just throwing a lot of cash at the problem and hoping it gets solved,” Olga Chyzh, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, told the Washington Post. “However sad they are to let go of their Western assets, oligarchs have even more to lose if Putin is no longer there to protect them.”

Eclipse is another yacht owned by Roman Abramovich.  Robb Report File

In the meantime, some oligarchs are taking their yachts to destinations like the Maldives , the Seychelles and Dubai, which have no extradition treaties with the US and EU. Dubai has become a favorite destination for Russian tourism and wealth.

Alex Finley, a former CIA officer, has been tracking the yachts from Barcelona. Using the hashtag “Yacht Watch,” she posts updates on Twitter for Russian-owned superyachts.

“For me, the yachts are a big, easily recognizable symbol of the more serious side of this [Russian invasion]: These are people who support a dictator, and have been supporting him in carrying out destabilization operations against democracy, while at the same time coming here and taking all the benefits of the exact same democracies they were destabilizing,” Finley told the Washington Post.

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Who's Paying for Russian Oligarch's Seized Yacht in San Diego Bay?

The amadea, which superyachttimes.com called the 63rd largest yacht in the world, tied up monday at naval base san diego, in national city, by eric s. page and mari payton • published june 28, 2022 • updated on june 28, 2022 at 2:11 pm.

Many San Diegans who saw the news about the Amadea — the $325 million seized Russian oligarch's yacht that docked in San Diego on Monday — may be wondering: Who's paying for that?

Imagine how much the fuel costs to sail it more than 5,000 miles from Fiji, where it was seized earlier this month, to San Diego? A local marine fuel dock quoted the following prices, if you're wondering: $7.40 for gas, $7.35 for diesel. According to SuperYachtTimes.com, the Amadea has a 392,000-liter fuel tank. That works out to about 103,555 gallons, so it could cost $766,307 or so just to fill up.

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And then there are maintence costs on a 350-foot long yacht, which, you can be sure, are extensive and necessary — in fact, not undertaking such efforts can cause the vessel's value to decline if it deteriotes due to neglect.

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The Amadea carries a full complement of 36 crew, including the captain, according to SuperYachtTimes, but it won't need nearly that many once she tied up at Naval Base San Diego in National City. Nevertheless, someone will be monitoring the yacht and conducting the maintenance.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the yacht was bought with what it calls "dirty money," and, as such, some may be relieved to hear, will be sold to the highest bidder. Presumably, the associated post-seizure costs accrued after its seizure will be coming off the top of the sale price. Until then, the Amadea, which SuperYachtTimes called the 63rd larges yacht in the world, will resume in the custody of the U.S.

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Officials with the DOJ said the Amadea, which was seized in connection to the department's KleptoCapture campaign undertaken in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, was owned by Suleiman Kerimov a Russian billionaire.

After the yacht arrived in San Diego, John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor, told NBC 7 that he thinks the U.S. government hopes moves like the Amadea's seizure are efforts to apply pressure to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this month, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said, regarding the Amadea, “The department had its eyes on every yacht purchased with dirty money. This yacht seizure should tell every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide — not even in the remotest part of the world. We will use every means of enforcing the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine.”

The court ruling represented a significant victory for the U.S. as it encounters obstacles in its attempts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. While those efforts are welcomed by many who oppose the war in Ukraine, some actions have tested the limits of American jurisdiction abroad.

The United States wasted no time in taking command of the after a Fiji court ruled in its favor and sailed the ship away from the South Pacific nation just hours after the ruling.

"If you could say or somehow prove that this boat … that the oligarch had the money for this boat because he bribed Vladimir Putin, that is public corruption," Kirby said. "It’s a crime even when it takes place outside the United States. The United States can still act upon it."

According the website, the Amadea is not currently for sale, but that may soon change. Until then, you can "shop" for other eye-popping, wallet-busting boats here .

The Associated Press contributed to this report — Ed.

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A multimillion-dollar superyacht once owned by a Russian oligarch has gone to auction

Dustin Jones

The Axioma superyacht, seen in Gibraltar in March, once belonged to Russian oligarch Dmitrievich Pumpyansky. The vessel was seized last March in accordance with sanctions imposed by Britain and the European Union. It will be auctioned off Tuesday, with the proceeds going to JP Morgan Chase. JON NAZCA/REUTERS hide caption

The Axioma superyacht, seen in Gibraltar in March, once belonged to Russian oligarch Dmitrievich Pumpyansky. The vessel was seized last March in accordance with sanctions imposed by Britain and the European Union. It will be auctioned off Tuesday, with the proceeds going to JP Morgan Chase.

A superyacht once belonging to a Russian billionaire went to auction Tuesday in the British territory of Gibraltar. The vessel, estimated to have a value in the tens of millions of dollars, was seized in March as part of Western sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Gibraltar's Admiralty Marshal was tasked with appraising and selling the yacht, which received 63 bids, according to court documents. Its official appraised value is "a confidential matter which cannot be disclosed," although outside estimates reportedly place it anywhere from $42 million to $75 million. Details about who ultimately purchases the vessel and for what price will be made public when the transaction is complete.

Measuring 236 feet long and weighing over 1,600 tons, the Axioma is a sight to behold. It can accommodate 12 guests in six cabins — along with a 20-person crew in 12 other rooms — and features a gymnasium, full-service spa, infinity pool and luxury cinema, as stated on the Howe Robinson Partners auction site.

The cost to charter the Axioma for a week runs an average of roughly $500,000 , not including other operating costs, according to Yacht Charter Fleet.

The former owner of the ship is Dmitrievich Pumpyansky, once Russia's largest steel pipe manufacturer and currently worth $2 billion, according to Forbes . Unfortunately for Pumpyansky, he was sanctioned by Britain and the European Union after the invasion.

Other superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs have been detained as a result of the sanctions, but the Axioma is the first to be sold off, the Guardian reported.

Despite calls for the proceeds of the sale to benefit Ukraine, the funds will instead be paid to JP Morgan Chase. According to the Guardian, the international bank had a loan agreement with Pumpyansky's holding company, Pyrene Investments.

However, the sanctions against Russia prevented JP Morgan Chase from accepting payments from the holding company, breaching the agreement, and the bank filed a legal claim to have the vessel seized and sold at auction.

Other superyachts belonging to Russian elites have been detained all over the world — including the Amadea, which was seized in Fiji at the request of the United States in May. That $300 million yacht belonged to Suleiman Kerimov, a Russian gold producer worth over $12 billion, according to Forbes .

The fate of the Amadea is uncertain, however; it, too, could be sold to the highest bidder, which would be in line with President Biden's aims to hold Russian oligarchs accountable for their role in the invasion and, potentially, use the proceeds to aid Ukraine.

Russian oligarch's yacht costs U.S. taxpayers close to $1 million a month

A mega-yacht seized by U.S. authorities from a Russian oligarch is costing the government nearly $1 million a month to maintain, according to new court filings.

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking permission to sell a 348-foot yacht called Amadea, which it seized in 2022, alleging that it was owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. The government said it wants to sell the $230 million yacht due to the “excessive costs” of maintenance and crew, which it said could total $922,000 a month.

“It is excessive for taxpayers to pay nearly a million dollars per month to maintain the Amadea when these expenses could be reduced to zero through [a] sale,” according to a court filing by U.S. prosecutors on Friday.

The monthly charges for Amadea, which is now docked in San Diego, California, include $600,000 per month in running costs: $360,000 for the crew; $75,000 for fuel; and $165,000 for maintenance, waste removal, food and other expenses. They also include $144,000 in monthly pro-rata insurance costs and special charges including dry-docking fees, at $178,000, bringing the total to $922,000, according to the filings.

The battle over Amadea and the costs to the government highlight the financial and legal challenges of seizing and selling assets owned by Russian oligarchs after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that the European Union should use profits from more than $200 billion of frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort.

Her comments echoed government calls in the spring of 2022 to freeze the yachts, private jets and mansions of Russian billionaires in hopes of putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and raising money for the war effort.

Yet, nearly two years later, the legal process for proving ownership of the Russian assets and selling them has proven to be far more time-consuming and costly. In London, Russian billionaire Eugene Shvidler has waged a court battle over his private jets that were impounded, and Sergei Naumenko has been appealing the detention of his superyacht Phi.

The battle over Amadea began in April 2022, when it was seized in Fiji at the request of the U.S. government, according to the court filings.

Though the U.S. alleges that the yacht is owned by Kerimov, who made his fortune in mining, attorneys for Eduard Khudainatov, an ex-Rosneft CEO who has not been sanctioned, say he owns the yacht, and have sought to take back possession of the vessel.

In court filings, Khudainatov’s attorneys have objected to the U.S. government’s efforts to sell the yacht, saying a rushed sale could lead to a distressed sale price and that the maintenance costs are minor relative to the potential sale value.

Khudainatov’s attorneys refuse to pay the ongoing maintenance costs as long as the government pursues a sale and forfeiture. However, they say their client will reimburse the U.S. government for the more than $20 million already spent to maintain the yacht if it’s returned to its proper owner.

In court papers, the government says Kerimov disguised his ownership of Amadea through a series of shell companies and other owners. They say emails between crew members show Kerimov “was the beneficial owner of the yacht, irrespective of the titleholder of the vessel.”

The emails show that Kerimov and his family ordered several interior improvements of the yacht, including a new pizza oven and spa, and that between 2021 and 2022, when the boat was seized, “there were no guest trips on the Amadea that did not include either Kerimov or his family members,” according to the court filings.

The government also says Kerimov has been trying to sell Amadea for years, so a sale would be in keeping with his intent.

“This is not a situation in which a court would be ordering sale of a precious heirloom that a claimant desperately wishes to keep for sentimental reasons,” the government said in filings.

Even if Amadea were sold quickly, the proceeds wouldn’t automatically go to the government. Under law, the money would be held while Khudainatov and the government continue their battle in court over the ownership and forfeiture.

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Photos show the luxury mega yachts that belong to Russian oligarchs — some of whom have hidden their ships as the UK ramps up sanctions.

• Sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs threaten their luxury assets — including their mega yachts.
• Many countries have implemented sanctions targeting Putin and Russian oligarchs following Russia's attack on Ukraine.
• Insider compiled a photo list of some of the luxury vessels.

Russian billionaires' assets — including their megayachts — are in danger of being seized as countries continue to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden announced that the US will make a substantial effort to seize Russian oligarchs' assets.

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets," Biden said in his State of The Union address on March 1. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

Since the US is not in "armed conflict" with Russia it may be legally tricky to seize assets like yachts, Insider reported . 

"The threshold for seizing assets under sanctions is that the US has to be in armed conflict with the owner of the assets," Brian O'Toole, an economic sanctions expert, tweeted last Friday. "The idea of turning Russian corruption into Ukrainian assistance is lovely but this idea is illegal, period."

It can also be difficult to find out who the owners of these yachts are.

Offshore companies typically own the luxury vessels, but enough "public speculation" pointing to a Russian oligarch as an owner is likely "sufficient for a seizure," Insider reported . 

Many of the oligarchs moved their yachts to places where they can't be seized, such as the Maldives, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

Insider has compiled a list of photos with mega yachts linked to Russian oligarchs.

Galactica Super Nova

Amid sanctions and seizures targeting Russian billionaires, Galactica Super Nova — said to be linked to the CEO of Russian oil firm Lukoil — is no longer detectable via ship tracker site MarineTraffic , The Daily Beast reported Thursday. 

The superyacht — whose owner is named Vagit Alekperov — had just been in Montenegro last week, Insider reported .

Alekperov is not currently the target of any sanctions. 

The yacht is almost 230 feet long and can hold up to 12 guests and 16 crew members, according to the ship maker Heesen Yachts .

The ship also has a helicopter pad that can turn into an outdoor movie theatre, also according to the ship maker.

The Amore Vero

France seized Amore Vero, a 281-foot megayacht linked to oligarch and politician Igor Sechin, on March 3.

The yacht, Amore Vero, is estimated to have a value of $120 million . It has a swimming pool that doubles as a helicopter pad and a private deck for its owner, according to Oceana , the ship maker.

Per The Wall Street Journal , officials believe that Amore Vero is "owned by a company whose majority shareholder was Mr. Sechin," though the outlet does not provide the name of the company.

Sechin is the CEO of Rosneft, Russia's oil giant, and a former deputy prime minister. A known Putin ally , he was sanctioned by both the EU and the US before France seized his yacht last week .

Sechin was one of seven oligarchs sanctioned by the UK on Thursday. 

People in Russia have referred to Sechin as "Darth Vader" and "the scariest man on Earth," according to The Guardian .

Alisher Usmanov has been sanctioned by the EU, the US, the UK, and Switzerland. His boat remains in Germany, but the country says it hasn't seized it.

Usmanov's Dilbar is "is the largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage," according to Lürssen , the German ship's maker.

It's 512-foot long and weighs 15,917 tons. The ship has been docked in Germany for months undergoing a "refitting," but last week Forbes reported that it was unable to leave the dock.

Germany, however, has denied that it formally seized Dilbar.

Forbes said that "the German federal customs agency is the 'responsible enforcement authority' and would have to issue an export waiver for the yacht to leave, and that 'no yacht leaves port that is not allowed to do so.'" 

Still, multiple outlets reported that Usmanov has fired the crew on the Dilbar.

The Uzbekistan-born oligarch is a supporter of Putin. 

"I am proud that I know Putin, and the fact that everybody does not like him is not Putin's problem," Usmanov told Forbes  in a 2010 interview. 

Suleyman Kerimov was sanctioned by the US, and his son, Said Kerimov, owns ICE. The superyacht is worth is an estimated $170 million.

The Kerimov family owns the majority of Polyus Gold, Russia's biggest gold producer .

ICE was dubbed "Superyacht of the Year" in 2006 at the World Super Yacht Awards, according to Boat International . It is approximately 300 feet and has its own resident helicopter, according to Club Yacht .

Quantum Blue

Sergey Galitsky's ship, Quantum Blue, has an estimated value of $250 million and is last known to be docked in Monaco.

Galitsky is the founder of one of Russia's largest supermarket chains, Magnit.

His name is not currently on the list of sanctioned Russian oligarchs,

Though he also is not the target of any current sanctions, Vladimir Potanin's superyacht, Nirvana, is one of at least four ships docked in the Maldives .

Potanin is the Former First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and was a longtime trustee for the Guggenheim museum before stepping down on March 2, according to The New York Times . 

Nirvana is not Potanin's only superyacht, he also owns another named Barbara, according to Fortune .

Alexander Abramov's Titan, Alexei Mordashovis' Nord, and Oleg Deripaska's Clio are also located in the Maldives.

At 533 feet long, Roman Abramovich's Eclipse was the largest yacht on the globe until 2013 when the 590-foot Azzam overthrew it. 

Abramovich, once Russia's richest man , is the departing owner of Chelsea FC soccer club. He was sanctioned by the UK on Thursday along with six other oligarchs, Insider reported .

The luxury boat has a host of amenities, including two helicopter pads, a missile detection system, and a swimming pool more than 50 feet long. It also has space for up to 36 guests and 70 crew members, according to Yacht Harbour .

Insider previously reported that it is currently docked in the Caribbean .

Another yacht named Solaris is linked to Abramovich. The vessel, worth approximately $600 million, left Spain Tuesday after having been under repair since late 2021, Insider reported.

Solaris is 460 feet and can host a total of 36 guests, according to SuperYachtFan .

Tango, owned by the US-sanctioned Viktor Vekselberg, is currently located in Palma, Spain.

Tango can host up to 14 people and is 254 feet long, won the 2012 World Superyacht Awards, and has an estimated worth of $120 million, according to SuperYachtFan .

Vekselberg is a Ukrainian-born businessman who owns Renova, a Russian conglomerate, according to The Guardian .

He was one of nearly two dozen Russian oligarchs and officials that the US sanctioned on Friday.

The US Treasury Department claims that he has close ties with Putin, and has announced that assets such as his $90 million jet and his superyacht Tango have been frozen, Insider reported .

Graceful, a yacht reported to belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin, left Germany just before his invasion of Ukraine, Insider reported in early February.

—Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) February 9, 2022

Graceful is 270 feet long and has a saloon, gym, spa, library, and an indoor pool nearly 50 feet long that doubles as a dance floor.

Scheherazade

A mystery yacht remains untouched as the owner remains a mystery.

The owner of the 459-foot Scheherazade is suspected to be a Russian billionaire, though the owner was never publically identified, The New York Times reported .

Many people believe it belongs to Vladimir Putin, nicknaming the vessel "Putin's Yacht."

SuperYachtFan estimates the ship's value sits at $700 million.

Stella Maris

Stella Maris is linked to oil and gas tycoon Rashid Sardarov. It was last seen in Nice, France, according to The Washington Post .

The luxury vessel is priced at $75 million, is 237 feet long, and can hold up to 14 guests, per SuperYachtFan .

Sardarov is not being sanctioned. 

Sailing Yacht A

Sailing Yacht A is believed to belong to Andrey Melnichenko. The boat was seized by Spanish officials Saturday, Reuters reported .

The ship is more than 465 feet long and can hold up to 20 guests, according to SuperYachtFan . The website says that Sailing Yacht A also features an underwater observation area and has a value of more than $500 million.

Melnichenko is an EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire who works in coal and fertilizers, according to Forbes . The magazine also reported that he owns a second yacht, Motor Yacht A, which is similar to a submarine. 

Oligarch Gennady Timchenko's superyacht "Lena" was seized in the port of Sanremo, Italy on March 5, Reuters reported.

Timchenko is the owner of a private investment group, Volga Group and a shareholder of Bank Rossiya. The oligarch has been sanctioned by the EU, which describes him as a "long-time acquaintance of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin."

Timchenko was also sanctioned by the UK on February 22. 

The superyacht is valued at around 50 million euros ($54 million), Reuters reported. It has fold-down terraces, as well as an "owner's suite" which opens out onto the sea with "gull-wing doors," according to its manufacturer, Sanlorenzo.

Italian authorities also seized a $71 million super-yacht belonging to one of the wealthiest men in Russia , Alexei Mordashov. 

The 215-ft "Lady M" superyacht was seized in the Port of Imperia, northern Italy, a source confirmed to Reuters.

The yacht can accommodate up to six guests on and also has accommodation for four crew members, per the Superyacht Times .

The oligarch, who is the chairman of steel mining company, Severstal, has also been sanctioned by the EU, which says Mordashov is "benefiting from his links with Russian decision-makers." Mordashov has insisted he has "absolutely nothing to do" with Russia's attack on Ukraine. 

The Oligarch moved $1.3 billion worth of shares in travel company, TUI, to an offshore tax haven on the day he was hit by sanctions, Insider's Huileng Tan previously reported. 

He was also added to the UK government's sanctions list on March 15.

Some superyachts belonging to Russian billionaires are currently seeking refuge in the Maldives, including a yacht owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, Reuters reported.

The billionaire, who is also the founder of one of Russia's largest industrial groups, Basic Element, was added to the UK's sanctions list on March 10.

Also built by Lürssen, the superyacht - which is around 238 feet long - can accommodate 18 guests in nine cabins, per Superyacht Fan.

The superyacht Valerie - worth $140 million - was seized in Barcelona on Monday, Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said on La Sexta television, per Reuters.  

Sanchez did not confirm the owner of the yacht, but two sources confirmed to Reuters that it belonged to Sergei Chemezov, who is said to be a close ally of Putin.

The oligarch, who was previously a KGB spy with Putin in the former Soviet Union, recently said that Russia would emerge victorious from Western sanctions, Reuters previously reported . 

Chemezov, who is the CEO of Russian defense conglomerate Rostec was added to the US sanctions list on March 3. 

His yacht is 279 feet long and can accommodate 17 guests in eight suites, per Superyacht Fan.

Crescent, most likely owned by Igor Sechin but also rumored to belong to Putin, was the third yacht Spain seized as the West ramps up sanctions, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The superyacht is 443-feet long and costs an estimated $600 million, according to  SuperyachtFan, which also says the vessel hosts a retractable helicopter hangar and a large pool with a glass bottom.

Lady Anastasia

Lady Anastasia is owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Mikheyev but was seized by Spain on Tuesday, according to Reuters . 

The boat is almost 160 feet long and can hold up to 10 guests, according to Yacht Harbour .

Mikheyev, who was sanctioned by the EU, is the head of a helicopters division under Rostec, New York Mag reported .

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Yacht watch: 'one of the questions' for russian oligarchs going forward, according to a former cia officer.

The hits keep coming for Russian oligarchs, who are now on the receiving end of economic sanctions levied by Western countries in retaliation for Vladimir Putin’s invasion — a unilateral attack that put Russia's richest citizens under the microscope in the first place.

More than 50 high-profile individuals tied to Putin have been targeted with sanctions so far, and two yachts owned by Russian oligarchs are stuck in Western ports. Others are trying to hide their massive toys, though their options may be rather limited.

“One of the questions about all of this is: Where do you put all of these mega yachts?” former CIA officer and Yacht Watch columnist Alex Finley said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “There just are not that many ports in the world that can handle that many large yachts, particularly at the same time, and the facilities to take care of them because these are incredibly technological machines which require enormous amounts of service and upkeep and that know-how, and those services and shipyards are all here in Europe and the United States.”

The European Union (EU) and the U.S. levied sanctions against Russian assets in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has led to hundreds of civilian deaths in less than two weeks amid Russian shelling .

In his State of the Union address on March 1, President Biden addressed the oligarchs directly: “We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.”

'These aren't quite seizures'

Authorities have been tracking these yachts closely, though many of the oligarchs are doing their best to stay under the radar.

Italian officials are holding the yacht owned by Alexey Mordashov, chairman of Russian steel and mining company Severstal, while French authorities impounded the superyacht of Igor Sechin, CEO of oil giant Rosneft.

When German officials honed in on the megayacht owned by Alisher Umanov, however, it was determined that the $600 million yacht’s ownership was tied to a holding company in Malta. This is one way yacht owners have been able to avoid the seizure of their property, given that the sanctions are specific to assets held by individuals.

“We had a few — I call them freezes — over the weekend,” Finley said, stressing that there hasn’t been a full crackdown just yet. “These aren't quite seizures because it's not like the boats are being confiscated and will be sold off. But at least for now, those yachts are being held and the owners and the crew are not allowed to approach them.”

Rather than try to hide their vessels somewhere in EU territory, many of these owners have had their yachts transported to other countries.

“Viktor Vekselberg, who is under sanctions in the United States, his yacht is currently in Palma de Mallorca here in Spain, but a lot of the other yachts have left and have started heading to various different places,” Finley said. “A number of them seem to be going to the Maldives or to the Seychelles or are already over in the Arabian Sea near Dubai.”

Several websites enable users to track the movements of yachts, such as VesselFinder.com and MarineTraffic.com. The caveat , though, is that the person controlling the yacht can turn off its tracking system if it wants to stay private.

Still, as Finley stressed, “even if they do get away, where do they go and how do these people manage to upkeep their boats when they don’t have access to those services?”

Adriana Belmonte is a reporter and editor covering politics and health care policy for Yahoo Finance. You can follow her on Twitter @adrianambells and reach her at [email protected].

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US Seizes Super Yacht ‘Tango' Owned by Oligarch With Close Ties to Putin From Spanish Port

The doj alleges in a warrant the yacht should be forfeited because billionaire viktor vekselberg violated u.s. bank fraud, money laundering and sanctions statutes, by francisco ubilla, aritz parra and michael balsamo • published april 4, 2022.

The U.S. government on Monday seized a 254-foot yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a first by the Biden administration under sanctions imposed after the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine and targeting pricey assets of Russian elites.

Spain's Civil Guard and U.S. federal agents descended on the Tango at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police going in and out of the boat.

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The U.S. Justice Department, which obtained a warrant from a federal judge in Washington, alleges the yacht should be forfeited for violating U.S. bank fraud, money laundering and sanctions statutes.

Superyachtfan.com , a specialized website that tracks the world’s largest and most exclusive recreational boats, values the 78-meter vessel, which carries the Cook Islands flag, at $120 million.

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The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close Putin ally who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents .

All of Vekselberg’s assets in the United States are frozen and American companies are barred from doing business with him and his entities. The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminum and oil industries in the post-Soviet era.

Prosecutors allege Vekselberg bought the Tango in 2011 and has owned it since then, though they believe he has used shell companies to try to obfuscate his ownership and to avoid financial oversight.

They contend Vekselberg and those working for him continued to make payments using U.S. banks to support and maintain the yacht, even after sanctions were imposed on him in 2018. Those payments included a stay in December 2020 at a luxury water villa resort in the Maldives and fees to moor the yacht.

It's the first U.S. seizure of an oligarch’s yacht since U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assembled a task force known as REPO — short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs — as an effort to enforce sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

"It will not be the last,” Garland said 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.”

Vekselberg has long had ties to the U.S., including a green card he once held and homes in New York and Connecticut. He was also questioned in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and has worked closely with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York investment management firm Columbus Nova.

Vekselberg and Intrater were thrust into the spotlight in that investigation after the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels released a memo that claimed $500,000 in hush money was routed through Columbus Nova to a shell company set up by Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Columbus Nova denied that Vekselberg played any role in its payments to Cohen.

Vekselberg and Intrater met with Cohen at Trump Tower, one of several meetings between members of Trump's inner circle and high-level Russians during Trump's 2016 campaign and the transition before his presidency.

The 64-year-old Vekselberg founded Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest stake in United Co. Rusal, Russia’s biggest aluminum producer, among other investments.

Vekselberg was first sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, and again in March of this year, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began. Vekselberg has also been sanctioned by authorities in the United Kingdom.

The yacht sails under the Cook Islands flag and is owned by a company registered in the British Virgin Islands administered by different societies in Panama, the Civil Guard said, “following a complicated financial and societal web to conceal its truthful ownership.”

Agents confiscated documents and computers inside the yacht that will be analyzed to confirm he real identity of the owner, it said.

The U.S. Justice Department has also launched a sanctions enforcement task force known as KleptoCapture, which also aims to enforce financial restrictions in the U.S. imposed on Russia and its billionaires, working with the FBI, the U.S. Treasury and other federal agencies. That task force will also target financial institutions and entities that have helped oligarchs move money to dodge sanctions.

The White House has said that many allied countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and others are involved in trying to collect and share information against Russians targeted for sanctions. In his State of the Union address on March 1, President Joe Biden warned oligarchs that the U.S. and European allies would “find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.”

“We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he said.

Monday's capture is not the first time Spanish authorities have been involved in the seizure of a Russian oligarch’s superyacht. Officials said they had seized a vessel valued at over $140 million owned by the CEO of a state-owned defense conglomerate and a close Putin ally.

French authorities have seized superyachts, including one believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Italy has seized several yachts and other assets.

Italian financial police moved quickly seizing the superyacht Lena belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo; the 65-meter (215-foot) Lady M owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, featuring six suites and estimated to be worth 65 million euros; as well as villas in Tuscany and Como, according to government officials.

Parra reported from Madrid and Balsamo reported from Washington.

This article tagged under:

Oligarch.info

An interactive project to provoke a better understanding of russian oligarchs and their assets..

• Yacht Seized

Due to the owners’ involvement in supporting the Invasion of Ukraine, these yachts have been seized, frozen, or impounded.

• Yacht Tracking Enabled

These yachts transmit their AIS tracking data in compliance with international regulations and can be tracked in real-time.

• Yacht Tracking Disabled

These yachts previously transmitted AIS tracking data but have since turned it off and “gone dark.” Turning the AIS off is usually used to avoid detection or sanctions and is against international regulations as it increases the potential for collisions.

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• Viktor Rashnikov
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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.

Watch CBS News

Court in Fiji approves U.S. warrant to seize Russian-owned mega-yacht

By Graham Kates

May 3, 2022 / 9:32 AM EDT / CBS News

Fiji's High Court on Tuesday ruled that a massive Russian-owned yacht can be seized by U.S. authorities.

American and Fijian officials claim the Cayman Islands-flagged Amadea is the property of Suleiman Kerimov, an oligarch who built his fortune on gold mining. Kerimov was sanctioned in March by the United States, United Kingdom and European Union in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine . 

But an attorney who represents Millemarin Investments, the company the $325 million ship is registered to, said it's not owned by Kerimov. Instead, he argued in court that corporate paperwork traces the ship's ownership to Eduard Khudainatov, a former executive at Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil company who has not been sanctioned. 

Kerimov and Khudainatov could not be reached for comment. The company intends to appeal Tuesday's decision.

The Amadea berthed in Fiji on April 13, according to local reports and the maritime analytics website Marine Traffic. Soon after, a federal judge approved a warrant for the ship to be seized and on April 19, Fiji's top prosecutor moved to prevent the ship from leaving.

• Russian oligarchs moving yachts as U.S. tracks down assets

The Department of Justice could not immediately be reached for comment. 

On April 4, the agency announced that Spanish authorities had assisted it in seizing another Russian yacht, the $90 million Tango, which was owned by Viktor Vekselberg, the owner of the Russian conglomerate Renova Group.

Legislation passed by the House of Representatives on April 27 would allow the U.S. to sell the yacht and other properties worth more than $2 million seized from Russian oligarchs in order to fund the Ukrainian war effort. President Joe Biden supports the bill, which has yet to pass the Senate.

"We're going to seize their yachts, their luxury homes and other ill-begotten gains," Biden said on April 28 at the White House.

Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]

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Watch live: Chief prosecutor leading investigation into Mike Lynch yacht sinking gives press conference

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Watch live as the chief prosecutor leading the investigation into Mike Lynch’s yacht sinking in Sicily holds a press conference on Saturday (24 August).

On Friday, 18-year-old Hannah Lynch became the final missing passenger to be recovered from the wreckage of the Bayesian superyacht .

The discovery comes as reports in the Italian media and news agency Reuters have said that prosecutors are set to announce a manslaughter investigation into the incident.

Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office investigators said it will hold a news conference to unveil the first findings of its criminal investigation, which was opened immediately after the tragedy despite no formal suspects having been publicly identified.

The main question investigators are focusing on is how a sailing vessel deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.

The six people who went missing were the British technology entrepreneur, his daughter Hannah, Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo.

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Inside the shocking Sicily yacht tragedy that left 7 people dead

There was a violent storm, but even then, luxury yachts are built to weather such events. so why did this boat sink off the coast of sicily, leaving seven people dead, by natalie finn | e news • published august 24, 2024 • updated on august 24, 2024 at 10:34 am.

Originally appeared on E! Online

Nobody was trying to reach the lowest depths of the ocean or otherwise test the boundaries of human endurance .

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But what was supposed to be a routine pleasure cruise aboard a superyacht turned deadly all the same on the morning of Aug. 19 when the 184-foot Bayesian got caught in a storm and sank off the coast of Sicily .

"I can't remember the last time I read about a vessel going down quickly like that," Stephen Richter of SAR Marine Consulting told NBC News . "You know, completely capsizing and going down that quickly, a vessel of that nature, a yacht of that size."

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Of the 22 people onboard, including crew, seven people died. The last of the bodies was recovered Aug. 23, an expectedly sad coda to what had already been a tragic week as the search for answers as to how this happened got underway.

And to be sure, every minute of the Bayesian's ill-fated outing is being fiercely scrutinized, starting with the general seaworthiness of the vessel itself.

Because, frankly, this was a freak occurrence.

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"Boats of this size, they’re taking passengers on an excursion or a holiday," Richter explained. "They are not going to put them in situations where it may be dangerous or it may be uncomfortable, so this storm that popped up was obviously an anomaly. These vessels that carry passengers, they’re typically very well-maintained, very well-appointed."

But in this case, a $40 million yacht sank, seven people are dead—including a billionaire tech mogul and his 18-year-old daughter—and morbid fascination doesn't need a second wind.

Here is how the story of the Sicily yacht tragedy has unfolded so far:

What happened to the yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily?

The Bayesian had set off from the Sicilian port of Milazzo on Aug. 14 at capacity with 12 guests and 10 crewmembers aboard.

The aluminum-hulled vessel was built in 2008 by Italian shipbuilder Perini Navi and registered in the U.K. Cruise sites listed it as available for charter at $215,000 per week, per the Associated Press.

On the morning of Aug. 19, the superyacht was anchored off the coast of Porticello, a small fishing village in the Sicilian province of Palermo (also the name of Sicily's capital city), when a violent storm hit.

The vessel "suddenly sank" at around 5 a.m. local time, seemingly due to "the terrible weather conditions," the City Council of Bagheria announced shortly afterward, per NBC News .

At the time, only one person was confirmed dead—the ship's chef—but six others were said to be missing. The 15 survivors—who managed to make it onto an inflatable life boat, according to emergency officials—were rescued that morning by the crew of another yacht that had been nearby when the storm hit.

"Fifteen people inside," Karsten Borner, the Dutch captain of the ship that was able to help (the Sir Robert Baden Powell), told reporters afterward, per Reuters. "Four people were injured, three heavily injured, and we brought them to our ship. Then we communicated with the coast guard, and after some time, the coast guard came and later picked up injured people."

When the storm hit, his boat ran into "a strong hurricane gust," Borner said, "and we had to start the engine to keep the ship in an angled position."

They "managed to keep the ship in position," he continued, but once the storm died down, they realized the other boat that had been behind them—the Bayesian—was gone.

The wreck ended up settling 165 feet below the surface, according to Italy's national fire department.

Fire officials said that divers, a motorboat and a helicopter were deployed to search for the missing.

Meanwhile, footage was captured of the ship capsizing on closed-circuit TV about a half-mile away from where it was anchored.

In the video obtained by NBC News, the illuminated 250-foot aluminum mast of the ship appears to list severely to one side before disappearing completely. Survivors recalled having just a few minutes to literally abandon ship.

Who were the seven people who died when the yacht Bayesian sank?

The tragedy initially became headline news because billionaire tech mogul Mike Lynch—"Britain's Bill Gates," some U.K. media called him—was among the missing. His body was ultimately recovered Aug. 22 .

"They told me that suddenly they found themselves catapulted into the water without even understanding how they had got there," Dr. Fabio Genco, head of the Palermo Emergency Medical Services, told NBC News Aug. 22. "And that the whole thing seems to have lasted from 3 to 5 minutes."

Genco said he got to Porticello about an hour after the Bayesian capsized.

Survivors "told me that it was all dark, that the yacht hoisted itself up and then went down," he said. "All the objects were falling on them. That’s why I immediately made sure, by asking them questions, if they had any internal injuries."

Why did the yacht sink?

Italian prosecutors are investigating to determine what transpired before the boat went down, according to NBC News.

Meanwhile, the CEO of shipbuilder Perini's parent company The Italian Sea Group defended the vessel itself as "unsinkable."

Perini boats "are the safest in the most absolute sense," Giovanni Costantino told Sky News Aug. 22 . What happened to the Bayesian "put me in a state of sadness on one side and of disbelief on the other," he continued. "This incident sounds like an unbelievable story, both technically and as a fact."

Costantino said it had to have been human error that led to the boat sinking, declaring, "Mistakes were made."

"Everything that was done reveals a very long summation of errors," he told newspaper Corriere della Sera Aug. 21, in an interview translated from Italian. "The people should not have been in the cabins, the boat should not have been at anchor."

The weather was "all predictable," he continued, adding that the storm "was fully legible in all the weather charts. It couldn't have been ignored."

The yacht's captain, identified as James Cutfield of New Zealand, was taken to Termini Imerese hospital for treatment. From there, he told La Repubblica, per Sky News , that he didn't see the storm coming.

Borner, the captain of the ship that rescued the 15 Bayesian survivors, told NBC News that he noticed the storm come in at 4 a.m. local time, and saw what looked to him like a waterspout, a type of tornado that forms above water.

The International Centre for Waterspout Research posted on X Aug. 19 that it had "confirmed 18 waterspouts today off the coasts of Italy. Some were powerful waterspouts, one of which may have been responsible for the sinking of a large yacht off of Sicily."

Borner said he didn't know why the Bayesian sank so quickly, guessing "it may have something to do with the mast, which was incredibly long." (A tall mast, even with its sails down, means there's more surface area exposed to wind, which can result in tipping.)

Confirming that one person was dead and six unaccounted for immediately following the wreck on Aug. 19, Salvo Cocina of Sicily's civil protection agency told reporters that a waterspout had struck the area overnight.

"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

The 59-year-old founder of software firm Autonomy had been on the trip with his wife Angela Bacares and their 18-year-old, Oxford-bound daughter Hannah to celebrate his recent acquittal in the U.S. on fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from the $11.7 billion purchase of his company by Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

In a bizarre turn of events, Lynch's co-defendant at trial, Stephen Chamberlain, the former vice president of finance at Autonomy, died after being taken off life support following a road accident on Aug. 17. Chamberlain's attorney told Reuters Aug. 20 that his friend and client had been out for a run when he was "fatally struck" by a car.

Meanwhile, multiple people who contributed to Lynch's defense were on the cruise with him and his family.

The bodies of Morgan Stanley International Chairman Jonathan Bloomer—who testified on Lynch's behalf—and his wife Judy Bloomer, as well as lawyer Chris Morvillo, a partner at the U.S. firm Clifford Chance, and his wife Neda Morvillo, a jewelry designer, were recovered on Aug. 21 .

In a LinkedIn post thanking the team that successfully defended Lynch, Morvillo wrote, per Sky News , "And, finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo. None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home. And they all lived happily ever after…"

The first casualty confirmed Aug. 19 was the ship's Canadian-Antiguan chef, later identified as Recaldo Thomas.

"He was a one-of-a-kind special human being," a friend of Thomas told The Independent . "Incredibly talented, contagious smile and laugh, an incredible voice with a deep love of the ocean and the moon. I spoke to him nearly every day. He loved his life his friends and his job."

Hannah's body was the last of the missing six to be found , with divers bringing her remains ashore on Aug. 23.

Lynch and Bacares, who was rescued, also shared a 21-year-old daughter, according to The Times.

While awaiting trial, Lynch—who maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings—had spent 13 months under house arrest in San Francisco. Back home in London afterward, he admitted to The Times in July that he'd been afraid of dying in prison if he'd been found guilty. (He faced a possible 25-year sentence.)

"It's bizarre, but now you have a second life," he reflected. "The question is, what do you want to do with it?"

(E!, NBC News and Sky News are all members of the Comcast family.)

Sicily: Divers continue search where superyacht sank

Experts hope air pockets may offer a chance of survival, while divers have warned a "world of objects" stands in their way.

Wednesday 21 August 2024 12:20, UK

• Superyacht sinking

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