The severe sanctions go to the heart of Russian oligarchs. Bank accounts have been frozen and assets confiscated. Oligarchs are doing everything they can to protect their possessions. As a result, more and more Russian superyachts have recently disappeared without a trace.
As reported by the British newspaper Observer, the owners rely on a simple trick. By disabling the tracking of your yachts, luxury vessels become invisible to global tracking systems. At least six superyachts whose owners are on the British sanctions list have reportedly disappeared from the radar.
The oligarchs want to prevent confiscation
Most yachts have been recently sighted in the Maldives. The Indian Ocean country has no extradition treaty with the United States.
The German news magazine “Focus” listed six missing yachts. Worth £ 240m, yacht A was last spotted in the Maldives on March 10. Owner Andrey Melnichenko (50) has already lost one of his expensive ships. His 143-meter sailing yacht was confiscated in Italy in March.
A luxury yacht belonging to the second richest person in Russia has set sail
The 72-meter yacht “Clio” belonging to the industrial giant Oleg Deripaska (54) has not been found since April 18. Alfa Nero, owned by entrepreneur Andrey Guryev (62), last visited the Caribbean on March 3. As of March 2, the 70-meter long “Galactica Super Nova” by Vagit Alekperov (71) has disappeared from the Croatian coast. Wiktor Rasznikov’s 140-meter Ocean Victory (73) has been lost since March 1. My Sky by Igor Kesaev (55) disappeared on March 30 in the Maldives.
With the Pacific, the superyacht that has been missing since early May has recently arrived in safe waters off the coast of Turkey. Previously, it was recently located in the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa. The $ 150 million yacht belongs to Novatek’s boss and oligarch Leonid Mikhelson (66), the second richest man in Russia. In early April, Britain punished Michaelson. Turkey has been a popular destination for oligarchs’ superyachts since the imposition of sanctions by the West. (man)