Europe seizes Russian superyachts as oligarchs flee
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Marine tracking data shows that a growing number of Russian-owned superyachts are heading to ‘safe havens’ such as the Maldives, to avoid potential seizures under sanctions being levied against Russia.
Europe has already seized at least one vessel, while the US is actively seeking to freeze assets including yachts.
Yesterday, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed authorities had seized 86-metre Oceanco superyacht Amore Vero, linked to Rosneft boss and former deputy prime minister of Russia Igor Sechin, in the port of La Ciotat.
The finance ministry said Sechin, who is reportedly nicknamed ‘Darth Vader’ in business circles, had been identified as the main shareholder of the entity that owns the yacht.
The BBC reports that the French acted quickly on Wednesday when customs officers noticed that Sechin’s yacht was “taking steps to sail off urgently”.
The news came amid conflicting reports surrounding the alleged seizure of 156-metre Dilbar, owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who was sanctioned by the European Union on Monday. Valued at US$600m, Dilbar is considered the largest yacht in the world by gross tonnage.
On Wednesday, Forbes reported that Dilbar had been seized by German authorities while undergoing a refit at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg. Three industry sources confirmed to Forbes that the asset had been frozen, and Blohm+Voss employees who had been working on the yacht did not arrive to work on Wednesday. However, German authorities later denied the reports, which Forbes says were originally corroborated by three sources in the yacht industry.
“No yachts have been confiscated,” a spokesperson for Hamburg’s economic authority told Reuters, adding: “I am not aware that a delivery of the yacht to its owner is currently planned.”
In a statement made to Forbes, the Ministry for Economy and Innovation in the German state of Hamburg elaborated 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.”
The Biden administration has announced fresh sanctions on Russian oligarchs in retaliation for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and says it wants to ‘hunt down’ assets including yachts.
The BBC reports that Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, yesterday joined a list of eight oligarchs and nearly two dozen of their family members and associates whose assets in the US will be frozen, and have their American properties blocked from use.
Another 19 oligarchs – including Putin ally Alisher Burhanovich – and 47 of their family members face US visa restrictions.
In a tweet posted on Saturday, the White House said: “This coming week, we will launch a multilateral Transatlantic task force to identify, hunt down, and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs — their yachts, their mansions, and any other ill-gotten gains that we can find and freeze under the law.”
In the UK, ports have been told to restrict access to any Russian flagged, registered, owned, controlled, chartered or operated vessels, with “prohibiting legislation to follow”.
On Monday 28 February, transport secretary Grant Shapps MP, wrote in a letter to all UK ports: “The maritime sector is fundamental to international trade and we must play our part in restricting Russia’s economic interests and holding the Russian government to account.”
However, the UK has faced criticisms over delays and has so far not seized any yachts.
Russian superyacht owners are now seeking to move their vessels to ‘safe havens’ to avoid their assets being seized by authorities in Europe or the US.
At least five of the largest vessels currently anchored or cruising in the Maldives are all Russian-owned. These include 140-metre Ocean Victory, which reportedly belongs to steel magnate Victor Rashnikov, 78-metre Titan, owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov, and 73-metre Clio, which is linked to aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska.
A heatmap created by Bloomberg shows several of the vessels anchored around the capital, Male.
Map showing location of all Russian oligarchs yachts.
— KT CounterIntelligence (@KremlinTrolls) March 2, 2022
Many are at Maldives and Seychelleshttps://t.co/QWf4cZgsf1 pic.twitter.com/M8IHXRgTwZ
The Maldives is considered a ‘safe haven’ for Russian superyacht owners keen to avoid sanctions, as the island nation does not have an extradition treaty with the US.
Other countries that do not have US extradition treaties include Montenegro, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and UAE.
This morning, Malta Today reports that 70-metre Polaris, belonging to Russian billionaire and Setl Group chairman Maxim Shubarev, docked in Birgu on Friday morning.
Shubarev is chairman of Setl Group, one of Russia’s largest financial and industrial associations. While neither Shubarev or Setl Group feature on the current sanctions list, Shubarev reportedly purchased a Maltese passport through its citizenship by investment scheme in 2018. It is not known how this might impact potential sanctions by the EU.
There is growing interest in the whereabouts of Russian-owned superyachts, with hashtags such as #Yachtwatch trending on Twitter.
Meanwhile, weekly investigative newsletter Whale Hunting is publishing a Yacht Watch column by Alex Finley, a novelist and former CIA officer, which is dedicated to following the efforts of Western countries to track and sanction Russian-owned yachts.
Any country that let’s these Gin Palaces depart their ports is complicit in approving the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
They too should face sanctions and made to suffer their complacency.