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Spain has now impounded three yachts linked to Russian oligarchs

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UPDATED – Thurs 17 March at 19h

Spanish authorities impounded a third yacht suspected of belonging to a Russian oligarch on Wednesday, as part of the EU sanctions over the Ukraine war, the transport ministry said.

The 135-metre long yacht, Crescent , has been stopped from leaving the Catalan port of Tarragona whilst police determine if it ‘belongs or is under the control of’ someone on the EU sanctions list, the ministry said in a statement.

The yacht reportedly belongs to Igor Sechin , the head of Russia’s oil giant Rosneft and another ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin . The Crescent has been docked in Tarragona since November. It had requested permission to depart the port on 4 March but did not set sail, the ministry said.

Sechin is on the EU’s list of Russian tycoons targeted by sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

On Tuesday this week, Spanish authorities impounded a yacht called Lady Anastasia on the island of Mallorca which reportedly belongs to Russian tycoon Alexander Mikheev , the head of weapons exporting group Rosoboronexport . The same yacht had been in the news at the end of February when a Ukrainian sailor was arrested in Mallorca by Spain’s Guardia Civil  for trying to sink the vessel.  Also read:  Ukrainian sailor in court for trying to sink luxury yacht of Russian boss in Mallorca .

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced Monday during a TV interview that police had impounded another 85-metre-long yacht in Barcelona [see report below]. 

Original report below:

An 85-metre yacht worth $140 million has been impounded in the port of Barcelona , Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez  has said. It reportedly belongs to Russian oligarch Sergei Chemezov.  

The yacht is reportedly named Valerie , which is linked to Rostec defence firm chief Chemezov, a former KGB officer and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin .

‘Today we seized – the technical term is provisionally immobilised – a yacht belonging to one of the principal oligarchs,’ Sánchez said on La Sexta television. ‘We are talking about a yacht that we estimate is worth $140 million,’ he said, adding that ‘others were to follow’, without giving further details.

The Valerie  superyacht sails under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The vessel is registered to Chemezov’s stepdaughter, Anastasia Ignatova , through a British Virgin Islands company, according to a 2021 article published in the Pandora Papers information leak.

Yachts are among the assets of oligarchs targeted by sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Chemezov  had previously been sanctioned by the United States in 2014 and by the UK in 2020 over his involvement in Russia’s annexation of Crimea . He was also named in sanctions lists this month by the United States and Australia. The US sanctions also targeted Chemezov’s stepdaughter, as well as his wife and son. A fourth package of EU sanctions against Russia is due to be unveiled in the coming days.

The yacht has been in Barcelona since 9 February, according to Marine Traffic, and was until Monday under repair at Barcelona’s shipyard MB92.

My Solaris , the €500 million superyacht of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich , left Barcelona on 11 March and its crew are now looking to dock at a port further East where the vessel will not be seized by authorities.

Also read:  France seizes Russian oil czar’s $120m superyacht, as EU sanctions start to bite .

Also read:  Ukrainian sailor in court for trying to sink luxury yacht of Russian boss in Mallorca .

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Joan is a Barcelona-based correspondent reporting on politics, economics and social issues, such as migration and the car industry’s green transition, and also conducting investigative pieces. With over 15 years of experience, Joan previously worked as Washington correspondent for Spain’s leading newspaper EL PAÍS, closely covering the Obama and Trump administrations, electoral campaigns and major news; at Spanish newspapers Ara and Público in Madrid, and at EFE news agency in Buenos Aires and Barcelona. He is a journalism graduate from Barcelona’s Autonomous University, including an exchange program in Amsterdam and New York, and holds a business executive degree from IESE Business School

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Yacht Linked to Russian Oligarch Leaves Barcelona

Yachting Journal

A superyacht linked to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich left Barcelona on Tuesday where it had been undergoing repairs in a local shipyard, ship-tracking data showed.

The 140-meter (460-foot) My Solaris, which sails under a Bermuda flag according to monitoring site Marine Traffic, left Spanish company MB92's Barcelona shipyard just after 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Tuesday, according to the same site. MB92 declined to comment.

The superyacht, which was built in a German shipyard and first took to the sea early last year, is one of a string of yachts owned by Abramovich, according to reports in luxury goods publications SuperYachtFan, SuperYacht Times and Forbes.

Abramovich, who last week put Chelsea Football Club up for sale and promised to donate money from the proceeds to help victims of the war in Ukraine, has not been the target so far of any sanctions over Moscow's invasion.

A spokeswoman for Abramovich said: "We never comment on the movements of the yacht or any other vehicles or vessels."

The boat had been at the Barcelona shipyard since late 2021, a sector source said. It was unclear where it was headed.

The European Commission has prepared a new package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine that will hit additional Russian oligarchs and politicians and three Belarusian banks, three sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

French authorities last week took into temporary custody four cargo vessels and one luxury yacht linked to Russian oligarchs as the United States and other governments ramped up sanctions on Russia's super-rich with links to President Vladimir Putin.

At least five other superyachts owned by Russian billionaires were anchored or cruising in the Maldives last week, an island nation in the Indian nation with no extradition treaty with the United States.

There are currently three other yachts reportedly tied to Russian oligarchs at the Barcelona shipyard, according to Marine Traffic. One of them is related to Sergei Chemezov, chief of Russian state aerospace and defense conglomerate Rostec, who was sanctioned last week by the United States.

The other two are understood to belong to Russian oligarchs who have not been sanctioned - Andrey Molchanov, the main shareholder in Russian homebuilder LSR, and metals magnate Mikhail Prokhorov.

Another superyacht, named Eclipse, which is also reportedly owned by Abramovich, was in Barcelona last autumn and is now in the Caribbean Sea near the British Virgin Islands. (Reuters - Reporting by Joan Faus and Catarina Demony; Editing by Nathan Allen, Aislinn Laing and Sandra Maler)

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

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

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By Raphael Minder and Michael Forsythe

• March 16, 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Spain seizes Russian oligarch's yacht in Barcelona

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MADRID — Spain has temporarily seized a Russian oligarch’s $140 million yacht in Barcelona, the country said on Monday, as two sources said the vessel belonged to the head of Russian state conglomerate Rostec, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Today we seized – the technical term is provisionally immobilized – a yacht belonging to one of the principal oligarchs,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on La Sexta television. “We are talking about a yacht that we estimate is worth $140 million.”

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“There will be more,” he added, without elaborating. Monitoring site Marine Traffic has said that yachts linked to two other oligarchs who are not yet sanctioned are also docked in Barcelona.

The 85-meter (279-foot) superyacht Valerie belongs to Sergei Chemezov, a former KGB officer who heads state conglomerate Rostec, two sources said.

Sailing under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the vessel is registered to Chemezov’s stepdaughter, Anastasia Ignatova, through a British Virgin Islands company, according to a 2021 article published in the Pandora Papers information leak.

The West has sanctioned Russian billionaires, frozen state assets and cut off much of the Russian corporate sector from the global economy since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Chemezov was sanctioned by the United States in 2014 and Britain in 2020 over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and was named in sanctions lists this month by the United States and Australia. The U.S. sanctions also targeted Chemezov’s stepdaughter as well as his wife and son.

He was not named in the latest European list of sanctioned Russian figures but the EU imposed measures against him in 2014. A fourth package of EU sanctions against Russia is due to be unveiled in the coming days.

The yacht has been in Barcelona since Feb 9, according to Marine Traffic, and was until Monday under repair at Barcelona’s shipyard MB92.

The yacht will remain under detention while Spanish authorities confirm its ownership and whether they feature on any list of sanctions targets, a government source said.

Chemezov told staff in a message shared with Reuters this week that Russia, which describes its actions in Ukraine as a “special military operation” to safeguard domestic security, would emerge “victorious” despite the sanctions. (Reporting by Belen Carreno, Joan Faus and Isla Binnie, additional reporting Catarina Demony; Editing by Aislinn Laing and Cynthia Osterman)

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Yacht Linked to Russian Oligarch Leaves Barcelona

March 8, 2022

A superyacht linked to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich left Barcelona on Tuesday where it had been undergoing repairs in a local shipyard, ship-tracking data showed.

The 140-meter (460-foot) My Solaris, which sails under a Bermuda flag according to monitoring site Marine Traffic, left Spanish company MB92's Barcelona shipyard just after 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Tuesday, according to the same site. MB92 declined to comment.

The superyacht, which was built in a German shipyard and first took to the sea early last year, is one of a string of yachts owned by Abramovich, according to reports in luxury goods publications SuperYachtFan, SuperYacht Times and Forbes.

Abramovich, who last week put Chelsea Football Club up for sale and promised to donate money from the proceeds to help victims of the war in Ukraine, has not been the target so far of any sanctions over Moscow's invasion.

A spokeswoman for Abramovich said: "We never comment on the movements of the yacht or any other vehicles or vessels."

The boat had been at the Barcelona shipyard since late 2021, a sector source said. It was unclear where it was headed.

The European Commission has prepared a new package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine that will hit additional Russian oligarchs and politicians and three Belarusian banks, three sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

French authorities last week took into temporary custody four cargo vessels and one luxury yacht linked to Russian oligarchs as the United States and other governments ramped up sanctions on Russia's super-rich with links to President Vladimir Putin.

At least five other superyachts owned by Russian billionaires were anchored or cruising in the Maldives last week, an island nation in the Indian nation with no extradition treaty with the United States.

There are currently three other yachts reportedly tied to Russian oligarchs at the Barcelona shipyard, according to Marine Traffic. One of them is related to Sergei Chemezov, chief of Russian state aerospace and defense conglomerate Rostec, who was sanctioned last week by the United States.

The other two are understood to belong to Russian oligarchs who have not been sanctioned - Andrey Molchanov, the main shareholder in Russian homebuilder LSR, and metals magnate Mikhail Prokhorov.

Another superyacht, named Eclipse, which is also reportedly owned by Abramovich, was in Barcelona last autumn and is now in the Caribbean Sea near the British Virgin Islands. (Reuters - Reporting by Joan Faus and Catarina Demony; Editing by Nathan Allen, Aislinn Laing and Sandra Maler)

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Could sanctions leave oligarchs’ super yachts high and dry in Spain?

Russia’s wealthiest men own vessels worth millions. Now penalties might make it illegal to supply or service them

• Russia-Ukraine war latest news: follow live updates

Among the many gleaming white boats lining Barcelona’s historic port, the super yachts of the super-rich stand out.

If there are fewer of them than usual at the moment it’s because most are still wintering in the Caribbean. However, overshadowing the small fry (super yachts are roughly defined as starting from 25 metres in length) are a number of palatial vessels, including yachts owned by the King of Bahrain, Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie, and media mogul Barry Diller.

Among them are three vessels belonging to some of Russia’s wealthiest men. They have a combined value of hundreds of millions of dollars. Their owners could be forgiven for feeling a little nervous as western governments ponder who to target next in a threatened barrage of sanctions against Russia in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.

All three yachts are in for refitting in the MB92 shipyard, which specialises in servicing super yachts. The largest is the 139-metre, Bermudian-flagged Solaris, which belongs to Roman Abramovich, the man who owns 29% of mining company Evraz, as well as Chelsea football club.

Next up is the 74-metre Aurora, owned by Andrey Molchanov, who has a controlling stake in LSR Group, Russia’s biggest producer of building materials, and a current net worth of €1bn, according to Forbes magazine.

Finally, there is the 70-metre Galactica Super Nova, whose owner is Vagit Alekperov, president and chief executive of Lukoil, in which he has around a 20% stake. He also owns 36.8% of the football club Spartak Moscow.

Lukoil is considered to be a potential target for European sanctions, given the energy giant’s importance to the Russian economy, and the fact that it is already subject to some US sanctions. It is a company of strategic importance to Russia, and Alekperov was among a gathering of business leaders summoned by Putin to a meeting in the Kremlin on Thursday.

Since 2017, Alekperov has also been part-owner of Marina Port Vell, Barcelona’s pleasure port. The old port, which dates back to Roman times, was renovated for the 1992 Olympic Games, and in 2010 it was ceded by the conservative city government to the London-based Salamanca Group for development as a marina for super yachts.

In 2017, ownership passed to the Qatari Investment bank, QInvest, and a fund with several international investors, among whom Alekperov is a stakeholder, in a concession that expires in 2048. The port is investing €20m (£16m) in a bid to become the biggest super yacht marina in the Mediterranean.

Abramovich is one of 35 individuals who should be considered for sanctions, according to a list drawn up by the organisation of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The names of the 35, who range from businessmen to media owners, government officials and politicians, was read out in parliament this week last week by Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran. She said: “We need to start by heeding the names of those who were identified by Alexei Navalny and his team as ‘key enablers’ more than a year ago.”

Abramovich holds Israeli and Portuguese citizenship and his lawyers insist that “he is not subject to sanctions, and this has been confirmed publicly by the prime minister”. They have said neither he nor Evraz “fit the description of those likely to be subject to sanctions, as set out by the foreign secretary”. Alekperov and Molchanov did not respond to requests for comment.

The three businessmen have not been named on any sanctions list. However, both US president Joe Biden and Boris Johnson have threatened wider action against the owners of companies across sectors including energy, mining and construction, which puts individuals such as Alekperov within the scope of those who could be affected.

“The UK’s new designation criteria permit a broad range of businesses to be designated as financial sanctions targets,” says sanctions expert Stacy Keen at law firm Pinsent Masons. “In relation to Russia’s strategically important businesses, the regulations specify that this applies to those operating in the chemicals, construction, defence, electronics, energy, extractives, financial services, transport and information, communications and digital technologies sectors.”

So, were such sanctions applied, what would it mean for the oligarchs’ yachts in Barcelona and elsewhere?

“The way sanctions work is that they don’t seize assets, but freeze them, and the individuals can’t use them to generate funds,” says Keen.

“If the EU were to make a designation equivalent to that made by the UK, no Spanish or other EU business would be allowed to supply services, from fuel to crew, for the use of the yacht. In effect, the yacht wouldn’t be able to function.”

How this will play out depends on the alignment of sanctions between the main players – the US, the UK and the EU. All three have promised coordinated action, and while there are some differences in measures taken in recent days, there are areas of overlap.

However, this is unlikely to have any knock-on effect on the thriving wider super yacht market, where order books are full for at least five years. According to MB92, 185 super yachts were built in 2021, compared with 148 in 2019. Covid led to a boom in the deluxe vessels, which provide an ideal form of social distancing for the 1%. Record numbers of the vessels were moored off the coasts of Italy and Greece in 2021.

The long waiting lists have also boosted the secondhand super yacht market as well, with some vessels selling for more than their original cost.

The business is getting bigger and so are the boats, as billionaires vie to outdo each other with their floating palaces. Solaris, which cost $600m, was built last year, and can reportedly accommodate 36 guests in its 18 luxurious cabins as well as 60 crew members. There is a gym, swimming pool, sauna, beauty salon and a jacuzzi. It is said to come with state-of-the-art security including a radar-controlled missile detection system, bulletproof windows and armoured protection. The yacht was spotted sailing up the Catalan coast on Wednesday, possibly on sea trials after its refit in Barcelona, before returning to its moorings.

These yachts are not only hugely expensive to build, they cost a fortune to maintain and crew. On average, owners must spend 10% of the purchase price annually to keep one afloat, which means Solaris has running costs of around $60m a year.

Solaris is just one of Abramovich’s four yachts. The 170-metre Eclipse, currently moored in the Caribbean, is the second largest in the world, after the 180-metre Azzam owned by Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE. The Eclipse was in the Barcelona shipyard for a refit at the end of last year.

Txema Rubio, MB92’s commercial director, says the yard can work on up to 25 yachts at a time. The average refit costs around €900,000, although in some cases this may rise to as much as €20m.

Despite their vast size, some super yachts travel with a “shadow boat” that carries accessories – such as speedboats, jet skis, cars, helicopters and even submarines – which the owners don’t want cluttering up their showcase yacht.Refits take a minimum of three months, sometimes much longer, during which time the yard may need to accommodate hundreds of crew members.

Part of the popularity of Barcelona as a marina and a super yacht shipyard is that crew get to spend months in one of the world’s most attractive cities while the vessels are moored or in dry dock. If sanctions are imposed, the oligarchs’ crews may find they have a lot more time on their hands.

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Spain seizes Russian oligarch's yacht in Barcelona

MADRID - Spain has temporarily seized a Russian oligarch's $140 million yacht in Barcelona, the country said on Monday, as two sources said the vessel belonged to the head of Russian state conglomerate Rostec, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Today we seized — the technical term is provisionally immobilized — a yacht belonging to one of the principal oligarchs," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on La Sexta television. "We are talking about a yacht that we estimate is worth $140 million."

"There will be more," he added, without elaborating. Monitoring site Marine Traffic has said that yachts linked to two other oligarchs who are not yet sanctioned are also docked in Barcelona.

The 85-meter (279-foot) superyacht Valerie belongs to Sergei Chemezov, a former KGB officer who heads state conglomerate Rostec, two sources said.

Sailing under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the vessel is registered to Chemezov's stepdaughter, Anastasia Ignatova, through a British Virgin Islands company, according to a 2021 article published in the Pandora Papers information leak.

The West has sanctioned Russian billionaires, frozen state assets and cut off much of the Russian corporate sector from the global economy since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Chemezov was sanctioned by the United States in 2014 and Britain in 2020 over Russia's annexation of Crimea and was named in sanctions lists this month by the United States and Australia. The US sanctions also targeted Chemezov's stepdaughter as well as his wife and son.

He was not named in the latest European list of sanctioned Russian figures but the EU imposed measures against him in 2014. A fourth package of EU sanctions against Russia is due to be unveiled in the coming days.

The yacht has been in Barcelona since Feb 9, according to Marine Traffic, and was until Monday under repair at Barcelona's shipyard MB92.

The yacht will remain under detention while Spanish authorities confirm its ownership and whether they feature on any list of sanctions targets, a government source said.

Chemezov told staff in a message shared with Reuters this week that Russia, which describes its actions in Ukraine as a "special military operation" to safeguard domestic security, would emerge "victorious" despite the sanctions.  —Reuters

How an ex-CIA agent is tracking the luxurious superyachts of Russian oligarchs

'yacht watching' emerges as a new trend as western countries crack down on russian oligarchs.

Social Sharing

Yacht watching has emerged as the newest global sport, as Russia's mega-rich oligarchs rush to move their massive, luxury boats out of Western waters.

Following sanctions from the European Union and the United States, governments and residents are sharing their sightings of the superyachts as they attempt to cruise away.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union speech last week that his country will find and seize the yachts, luxury apartments and private jets of sanctioned Russians.

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

Alex Finley is a former CIA officer living in Barcelona, Spain, near a busy harbour at Port Vull. She started the hashtag #YachtWatch after spotting some significant yachts in her neighbourhood, such as Russian business magnate  Alisher Usmanov's Dilbar , valued at $600 million US ($765 Cdn).

"These are really big, glimmering, sleek, technologically-advanced machines," Finley told As It Happens guest host Gillian Findlay. 

She described how the enormous boats "have all the toys" and look more like buildings and private cruise ships from afar.

Here is part of that conversation.

You've been tracking [the Russian superyachts] and I understand there's a community that's now tracking them. How does this work?

I happened to have an encounter with Solaris one day. 

She had been in the shipyard here in Barcelona and I went down to the port really just to take an afternoon off on a beautiful, sunny day…. I tweeted about it and next thing I know, there was a whole bunch of people interested in oligarch yachts and wanting to know what yachts were where. 

Yacht watching here in Barcelona is fantastic because a lot of yachts from all over the world come in. I think just as people started watching the sanctions and started realizing that the yachts were going to be part of this, people wanted to participate. 

You mentioned Solaris. Who does that belong to?

That one belongs to reportedly Roman Abramovich, who is not currently under sanctions. He is the one who also is the owner of the football club Chelsea in the U.K. and who is trying to sell it very quickly, it looks like.

[Editor's Note: After this interview was recorded, Abramovich  was hit with sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans . As for Chelsea FC, the team cannot sell any more tickets or merchandise — and it cannot buy or sell players on the transfer market.]

And what have you been able to track in terms of Solaris? Where is it now?

The last that I checked a couple of hours ago, she was just south of Sardinia.

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

Ok, SOLARIS is pinging again, as many of you have pointed out. She is just south of Sardinia. 8/ <a href="https://t.co/OtfRAqFuSW">pic.twitter.com/OtfRAqFuSW</a> &mdash; @alexzfinley

Why are they heading there?

Neither the Maldives nor the Seychelles are part of the EU or U.S. sanctions that are on these oligarchs.... Maybe that's just a holding place for them.

One of the things I've been trying to figure out is: where do they go [next]? These are very advanced technological machines…. They require infrastructure and crews and people who would know how to take care of them. And my understanding at this point is that the only places in the world that offer that level of knowledge, that level of service and infrastructure, they're all in Europe or the United States. 

How many of these oligarch-owned yachts have been seized so far?

Only four. 

Dilbar was in Hamburg, and there's actually some questions now about whether it was seized or what the status is.

People are starting not to use the word "seized" because the idea isn't that the government takes it and then owns it or can sell it or repossess it in some way. It's just that the beneficial owners cannot access it. Nobody can do service on it, the crews can't access it. It's like a frozen bank account in that sense.

French authorities in La Ciotat have done the same with Amore Vero and then the Italians have taken two … Lady M and Lena .

With all the talk of sanctions and all the talk of wanting to put pressure on the oligarchs, four doesn't seem a very big number. What's the impediment here?

Not all of these oligarchs are under sanction, so that's part of it. 

I think one of the hardest parts for the governments is going to be proving beneficial ownership…. These oligarchs themselves go out of their way to make sure it's very unclear who the owner is. These are very opaque ownership structures that use offshore companies and all kinds of shell companies to layer back and sort of hide who the beneficial owner is. 

Some have been [confirmed] with the Pandora Papers, with the Panama Papers … but in a lot of the cases, that has not happened. Any government officials who might want to try to arrest or stop these yachts need to really be able to make sure they can confirm who the beneficial owners are, and that takes time.

Beyond the obvious — I guess, the pleasure and the status of owning such a yacht — what is it that the oligarchs are doing? Why do they have these yachts?

For me, these mega-yachts are a symbol of the hypocrisy of a number of these oligarchs. They have supported and propped up a dictator — and in some cases aided him in his efforts to destabilize Western democracies.

At the same time, they take their money out of Russia and they spend it here in the West and enjoy all of the benefits and take advantage of all of the wonderful things that Western democratic societies can offer — namely rule of law, meaning you can invest in something, own a villa, own a yacht, and it's not going to just get stolen from you. 

• Rotterdam may dismantle historic bridge for $637M superyacht linked to Jeff Bezos

If the idea is [that] by going after the oligarchs, that pressure is, in fact, put on Putin and somehow changes his behaviour, why would seizing a yacht actually make a difference?

Russia's a great place to make money, but these guys like to spend it in the West and they put their families in the West. Their children go to schools in the West. 

They take advantage of all of the benefits of democracy, and [so] they're not going to be happy to have that taken away. 

They have been willing to support Putin because they were benefiting from it. And I think as those benefits start to disappear, they will grow more and more unhappy and it will eventually be an untenable situation.

Written by Mehek Mazhar. Interview with Alex Finley produced by Ashley Fraser and Sarah Jackson. Q&A edited for length and clarity.

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Spain seizes Russian oligarch superyachts in Barcelona and Mallorca

€140 million yacht in Barcelona is owned by close friend of Vladimir Putin

A €140 million superyacht owned by an oligarch friend of Russian leader Vladamir Putin has been seized by authorities in Barcelona.

Another craft has also been impounded in Mallorca.

It’s the first such seizures by Spain since sanctions were imposed against oligarchs in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The yacht taken in Barcelona is called Valerie and is owned by Sergei Chemezov, who runs the Russian state-owned defence firm Rostec.

Valerie had been moored in Barcelona since February 9 and sailed under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The craft is officially registered to Chemezov’s stepdaughter, Anastasia Ignatova via a British Virgin Islands company.

Speaking to La Sexta TV on Monday, Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said; “Today we have temporarily immobilized a yacht of one of Russia’s most prominent oligarchs, and there will be more to come.”

A second yacht was impounded in Mallorca this Tuesday morning at Port Adriano.

It’s been named as the Lady Anastasia owned by a Russian millionaire who is involved in the weapons manufacturing industry.

The craft’s Ukrainian chief engineer was arrested by the Guardia Civil last month after a failed attempt to flood it in revenge for Russia’s invasion of his homeland.

The first seizure on Monday of the Valerie directly hits Sergei Chemezov who is an old colleague of Putin’s from their days of working together for the KGB.

Chemezov said last week that Russia would emerge victorious from Western sanctions when he addresed Rostec staff.

“If you glance at Russia’s history, almost all of that history Russia has battled with different sanctions, with enemies which encircled her, and she always came out as the victor,” he told workers..

Sanctions against Chemezov first started in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea.

The current measures from the EU and the US also take in his wife, son, and stepdaughter.

• Spain could seize superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs under sanctions against Ukraine invasion
• Ukrainian sailor arrested for trying to sink luxury yacht owned by Russian arms dealer in Spain’s Mallorca
• Abramovich yacht sets sail from Barcelona to avoid seizure under sanctions against Russian oligarchs

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Ex-CIA officer is helping lead the search for yachts owned by Russian oligarchs

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BARCELONA, Spain — At the start of 2022, former CIA officer Alex Finley, a Colorado native now living in northeastern Spain, was simply researching her novel about a Russian oligarch with a megayacht and had no intention of sparking a global social media craze.

During her morning walks along the marina in downtown Barcelona, she began snapping shots of the ostentatious, multidecked superyachts believed to be owned by Russian oligarchs and posting the pictures on Twitter, bearing witness to one layer of the murky financial dealings and holdings of ultrarich Russians, many of whom are believed to have ties to President Vladimir Putin .

But after Russia invaded Ukraine — and dozens of countries, including the U.K. and the 27-member European Union, targeted Putin’s government and his wealthy friends with harsh sanctions — the megayachts began slipping out of Barcelona’s Port Vell. That’s not surprising, given that yachts belonging to oligarchs have been seized by the governments of the U.K., France, Germany, Croatia, Italy and Spain.

“This place is normally packed with very enormous yachts,” Finley, who worked for the CIA in West Africa and Europe from 2003 until 2009, told Yahoo News from the rooftop terrace of a restaurant overlooking the port.

Most of the Russian superyachts Finley has photographed at the port have left, including Solaris, Roman Abramovich ’s 460-foot-long megayacht, which is valued at $611 million by VesselsValue and boasts 48 cabins, eight decks, a helipad, a swimming pool and even antimissile weapons. Also gone is Dilbar, a 512-foot ship owned by metals magnate Alisher Usmanov, who became rich 30 years ago by introducing plastic bags in Russia. The fourth-largest yacht in the world according to VesselsValue, Dilbar is valued at $587 million.

“Many megayachts are now rushing out” of Europe, Finley explained, adding that some are showing up in ports in the Maldives, the Seychelles, Dubai and Turkey, while others have gone off the radar.

Until Putin pressed ahead with his war in Ukraine, there were financial reasons for Western countries to open their arms to the oligarchs and their yachts. After a controversial renovation started a decade ago, utilizing financing from oligarch Vagit Alekperov , president of the Russian oil company Lukoil, Barcelona’s oldest port became one of the world’s only marinas able to moor 60 large luxury vessels at a time. It also adjoins MB92, one of the few shipyards able to repair and refit superyachts that are often so large they have swimming pools, retractable helicopter hangers, discos, Jacuzzis and beauty salons. “These are really high-tech ships,” said Finley. “You need more than a screwdriver to fix them.”

Confirming which superyachts are owned by Russian oligarchs is not always easy, given that many are bought and paid for through holding companies in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. On March 14, Spanish authorities took control of the 279-foot Valerie, believed to be owned by former KGB officer Sergey Chemezov, CEO of the Russian defense firm Rostec, while the vessel was being repaired at Barcelona’s MB92.

"Today we seized — the technical term is 'provisionally immobilized' — a yacht belonging to one of the principal oligarchs," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced. "We are talking about a yacht that we estimate is worth $140 million,” he said, adding, “There will be more.”

Indeed, within 48 hours Spanish authorities in Tarragona also seized the 443-foot Crescent, which is believed to be owned by Rosneft Oil CEO Igor Sechin and valued at $600 million. Next, Spain nabbed the 154-foot Lady Anastasia from a port in Mallorca. It is believed to be owned by billionaire Alexander Mikheev. Only two weeks earlier, that vessel had been partially sunk by a Ukrainian crew member who was angry that Mikheev is director general of Rosoboronexport, a Russian defense company. After his arrest, the crew member was released by Spanish authorities, who honored his request to return to Ukraine to fight.

At least nine megayachts had been seized in Europe through Monday, though on Tuesday the Finnish government said it had detained an additional 21 yachts that it suspects may be owned by oligarchs.

With Russia’s destruction of Ukraine playing out in real time on Western television screens and social media, the focus on yachts owned by oligarchs who have financially benefited from close ties to Putin has intensified. The number of Finley’s Twitter followers has doubled, jumping to 40,000 over a single week as users have rushed to share tips, photos and commentary on the whereabouts of the ships.

“The world is terrible, the war is terrible, but this is fun because we’re all in it together,” said Finley, explaining the popularity of her Twitter feed. “Somebody on Twitter described it as a cross between ‘The Hunt for Red October’ and ‘The Amazing Race.’” With #Yachtwatch, she said, “we can all crowdsource; we can all be part of trying to get this information out. It’s our own little way to help.”

Swedish economist Anders Åslund, author of “Russia’s Crony Capitalism,” a book about the making of “extremely status-conscious” Russian elites, told Yahoo News that to belong to the oligarch class “you have to have three things: If you don’t have a big yacht, a grand palace and a private plane, then who are you? Certainly not an oligarch.” Few bothered following the finances and assets of superwealthy Russians until very recently, he said, “but all of a sudden, because of [the] sanctioning of the yachts, people are interested.”

Dennis Causier of VesselsValue agrees that owning a superyacht, or several, “is a huge ego trip.” But, he told Yahoo News, the ships also provide security for oligarchs such as Abramovich. “Any high-net-worth person has to regard themselves as a kidnap threat or possible target by one organization or another.” Abramovich owns three, perhaps four, megayachts in different parts of the world, all serviced by helipads. He can flit around from yacht to yacht with his movements obscured.

The yachts provide “high security onboard,” Causier said. “Sometimes there are armed guards, and we know for a fact some have armor-plated safe rooms if the yacht comes under attack.” While some hold helicopters for quick getaways, they may also have fast-launch submarines, he added.

For Barcelona urban activist Gala Pin, the apparently fishy activities at the port are no surprise. Her group, Plataforma Defensem el Port Vell, fought the plans for the superyacht marina when they were first unveiled in 2012. “We were concerned about who was behind it,” she told Yahoo News, “and about how it would change the neighborhood.”

The original plans called for a large, ritzy restaurant and a concrete wall that would block the public’s view of the marina. Her group’s protests brought at least a few changes: The restaurant plans were downsized and the concrete wall became planks that offer limited visibility of the superyachts in port. The restaurant, however, has closed and, since sanctions against Russia were announced, Pin said, “the marina is almost empty.”

But that may be only temporary. The marina recently announced plans to pump another $22 million into renovations to make it the world’s largest superyacht port in the world. And even if Russian oligarchs may no longer be mooring there, orders for custom-made superyachts are booming.

As for uncovering oligarchs’ assets, the global search is just beginning. Earlier this week, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project unveiled Russian Asset Tracker, a crowdsourced approach to hunt down the land, mansions, companies, boats and planes of Putin’s “allies, his friends, his financiers and his enablers.”

Only days old, the site says it has “uncovered over $17.5 billion in assets, and counting.”

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16 superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs

Western sanctions over moscow's invasion of ukraine led to many luxury vessels being detained in europe.

Two superyachts linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich were spotted on the Turkish coast on Tuesday, 'Eclipse' and 'My Solaris'. Mr Abramovich is among several wealthy Russians added to an EU blacklist as governments act to seize their yachts and other luxury assets. AP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

Several luxury yachts owned by wealthy Russians have been detained across Europe this month.

It comes after the West imposed sanctions on oligarchs over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine .

Some have taken evasive action – two such superyachts linked to billionaire Roman Abramovich were spotted approaching the Turkish coast on Tuesday. A group of Ukrainians tried to stop one of the yachts from docking in Turkey.

Chelsea FC owner Mr Abramovich is one of several oligarchs who were added to an EU blacklist last week as governments acted to seize yachts and other luxury assets owned by the billionaires.

Western sanctions resulted in many large vessels relocating from Europe in the past few weeks. Several have headed to places such as the Maldives, which have no extradition treaty with the US.

Where is the Abramovich-owned yacht heading?

Mr Abramovich's yacht Eclipse was seen heading towards Marmaris on Tuesday, according to data compiled by monitoring site Marine Traffic, which was seen by Reuters.

The previous day, his superyacht Solaris was moored in Bodrum, about 80 kilometres from Marmaris, data showed, after skirting waters of EU countries.

There was no suggestion Mr Abramovich was on board either of the yachts.

Ukrainians attempt to stop Abramovich's yacht docking in Turkey

Which yachts have been detained?

On Monday, a superyacht linked to another Russian billionaire was detained by authorities after docking in Gibraltar.

The Axioma , believed to belong to Dmitrievich Pumpyansky, moored at Gibraltar on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, Reuters TV footage showed.

Mr Pumpyansky, who is under UK and EU sanctions, owns Russia's largest steel pipe maker TMK. Data shows the 72-metre vessel is owned by a British Virgin Islands holding company called Pyrene investments, Reuters reported. An article published as part of the Panama Papers leaks names Mr Pumpyansky as a beneficiary of the holding.

On March 12, the world's biggest sailing yacht, called Sailing Yacht A and owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko , was seized by Italian police.

Several other luxury yachts have also been detained across Europe, including in Gibraltar, Mallorca in Spain's Balearic Islands and the French coast.

Here are 16 superyachts linked to wealthy Russians

1. Eclipse , a superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich , was this week spotted heading in the direction of Marmaris in Turkey.

2. Solaris , belonging to Mr Abramovich , moored in Bodrum at the start of the week.

3. The Axioma superyacht, belonging to Russian oligarch Dmitrievich Pumpyansky , who is on the EU's list of sanctioned Russians, was detained by authorities after docking in Gibraltar on Monday.

4. The Crescent , which was seized by the Spanish government in Tarragona, Spain, on March 17. The ship's owner is not publicly known, although it is believed to belong to Russian Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft Oil in Moscow.

5. Ragnar , owned by former KGB officer and Russian oligarch Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, who is not on the EU sanctions list.

6. Tango , owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned by the US on March 11.

7. Lady Anastasia , owned by Russian arms manufacturer Alexander Mijeev, is retained at Port Adriano, Mallorca, as a result of sanctions against Russia and Belarus issued by the European Union.

8. Valerie was seized by the Spanish government in Barcelona, Spain, on March 15. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that the ship is linked to Rostec State Corporation’s chief executive Sergey Chemezov.

9. The $578 million Sailing Yacht A owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko was seized by Italian police in the port of Trieste on March 12.

10. The 156-metre Dilbar superyacht is owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

11. La Datcha belongs to Russian billionaire businessman Oleg Tinkov.

12. Lady M , owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, was seized by Italian police on March 5.

13. Amore Vero was seized in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat on March 3 by French authorities. The yacht is linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs the Russian oil giant Rosneft.

14. Quantum Blue , owned by a company linked to Russian billionaire Sergei Galitsky, the head of Russian oil giant Rosneft, was seized in southern France on March 3.

15. Superyacht Luna is owned by Russian billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov.

16. Triple Seven is owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov, according to media reports. The yacht was last up for sale in 2020 for €38 million ($41.85 million).

A Russian oligarch's megayacht seized by the US is costing taxpayers a fortune, and the government is desperate to sell

• A Russian oligarch's seized megayacht is costing US taxpayers $922,000 a month, a court filing says.
• Officials said last month it costs $600,000 — but there's also insurance and dry-docking fees.
• Another Russian billionaire is claiming ownership of the yacht and opposing attempts to sell it.

A Russian oligarch's megayacht is costing taxpayers almost $1 million a month after the government seized it, court filings say.

US officials say the $300-million Amadea is owned by Suleiman Kerimov , a sanctioned Russian billionaire. It has a helipad, a swimming pool, and a movie theater on board.

The 348-foot vessel was first seized by authorities in Fiji in April 2022. It's now docked in San Diego, but the government wants to sell it due to huge maintenance costs.

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Last month, an assistant chief in the US Marshals Service said the Amadea was costing the government about $600,000 a month .

That's made up of $360,000 for crew salaries; $75,000 for fuel; and $165,000 for maintenance, waste removal, food for the crew, and miscellaneous expenses.

But a Friday court filing seen by Business Insider says there are actually even more costs that bring the total monthly bill up to $922,000.

It costs $144,000 to insure the megayacht, and dry-docking fees of $178,000 a month, the filing says.

The legal battle over the Amadea involves another Russian billionaire, Eduard Khudainatov, who claims he, not Kerimov, is the owner of the yacht.

Lawyers for Khudainatov, who is not sanctioned, have objected to the government's attempts to sell the Amadea.

According to CNBC, which first reported on Friday's filing, Khudainatov has offered to reimburse the government for the $20 million it has already spent maintaining the yacht if it's returned to him.

However, as long as the government continues trying to sell the Amadea, he won't pay the costs, CNBC reported.

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