It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, March 10, 2022
How This Superyacht Became an
Overnight Geopolitical Mystery
Jessica Cherner
The Russia sanctions are growing, seemingly by the hundreds, every day. And much of the world is watching with glee as oligarchs’ luxuries are being hunted down by international governments. If we’ve learned anything from movies like The Wolf of Wall Street, which is based on a true story, it’s that some of the world’s wealthiest enjoy flaunting their money. Not only do billionaires often spend their money on toys like European sports cars and diamond-encrusted watches, but they also want the world to know to whom these extremely rare possessions belong.
After all, Jeff Bezos has been accumulating quite a bit of press as he works on dismantling a historic bridge in Rotterdam to sail his $500 million yacht onto the open sea. But some billionaires play their cards a bit closer to the chest. Case in point: the owner of a 459-foot superyacht docked in a Tuscan port. No one, not even the Italian police, can identify who the enormous vessel belongs to, which leads the world to believe it may be someone tied to one of the world’s most currently despised leaders: Vladimir Putin.
Mega Yacht ''Scheherazade'' anchors in Turkey's Mugla
Scheherazade, which costs an estimated $700 million, boasts not one but two helicopter decks.
Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Few believe that the floating mansion actually belongs to the Russian president—whose recent invasion of Ukraine is earning more sanctions than he, his country, and his billionaire friends thought imaginable—but many are more certain that it belongs to someone with ties to the top of the Russian government.
Since the devastating fate of Ukraine started to unfold, the United States, along with the UK and the European Union, have come together to track down the luxuries belonging to Putin’s friends, who are part of a massively growing list of billionaires facing punishing sanctions. That’s why this boat, one of the world’s largest and costliest, is such a point of interest.
International governments have been going after the luxurious belongings of Russian oligarchs since Putin and his government started getting slapped with sanctions two weeks ago, so assuming the yacht hiding out in Italy is one of Putin’s friend’s, things aren’t looking so good. However, no one can confirm just yet. The ship’s British captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, promised that Putin had never been on the boat and that it didn’t belong to him, but he didn’t confirm whether or not the yacht belonged to a Russian national.
RUSSIA-TURKEY-DIPLOMACY
Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Photo: VLADIMIR SMIRNOV/Getty Images
Considering all of the amenities on the boat, dubbed Scheherazade, it’s not exactly an unfair guess to assume the owner is a Russian oligarch. Scheherazade, which costs an estimated $700 million, boasts not one but two helicopter decks, an indoor swimming pool with a retractable cover that transforms the pool into a dance floor, a fully equipped gym, and bathrooms complete with gold-plated fixtures. That’s a lot of sparkle even for the level of wealth associated with a purchase this big. However, the glamour isn’t the unusual part; the degree of intentional secrecy is.
The superyacht community does entertain a level of confidentiality—mostly for security purposes—but the Scheherazade is kept under so many wraps that it makes people believe something dubious must be going on when it comes to the owner’s identity. For instance, all of the contractors and crew members signed nondisclosure agreements, there’s a custom cover to hide the boat’s nameplate, and when Scheherazade arrived at the port, workers built a metal structure on the pier to keep passersby from seeing the yacht.
Roman Abramovich's yacht "Eclipse" anchors in Turkey
The 459-foot superyacht is currently docked in a Tuscan port.
Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
This yacht, however, isn’t the only one catching people’s attention as of late. The world’s second-biggest yacht, called Eclipse, is owned by Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who bought (and has since sold his ownership stake) in the British soccer club, Chelsea. Interestingly, the UK government has yet to sanction any of Abramovich's assets in the country.
As for Scheherazade, that mystery is still being investigated, and until the feds can figure out who the not-so-proud owner is, the behemoth on water will remain where it is, shrouded in a cloak of well-orchestrated secrecy.
European authorities are trying to track down the owner of a superyacht nicknamed 'Putin's yacht' by locals
Rebecca Cohen Tue, March 8, 2022, 'Scheherazade', one of the largest superyachts in the world, anchors in
Bodrum district of Mugla, Turkey on August 16, 2020.
Osman Uras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
European authorities are trying to track down the owner of a superyacht docked in Italy.
The owner of the Scheherazade is unknown because of confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements.
Some think the yacht could belong to Putin himself and locals have nicknamed it "Putin's yacht."
European authorities are trying to track down the owner of a superyacht currently docked in Italy, whose ownership has been a mystery, according to the New York Times.
As assets of Russian oligarchs and those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin are seized, authorities are trying to identify the owner of the Scheherazade — a 459-foot-long superyacht sitting in a marina on the Tuscan coast of Italy.
Some think it could belong to one of the oligarchs, and locals told The Times that the boat has even been nicknamed "Putin's yacht."
"Everybody calls it Putin's yacht, but nobody knows whose it is," Ernesto Rossi, a retired clerk seen walking near the marina told The Times. "It's a rumor that's been going around for months."
The ship's captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, told The Times Putin has never been on the yacht, and that the owner was not on any sanctions list, though he didn't rule out the possibility of the owner being Russian.
Bennett-Pearce told The Times that he had to sign non-disclosure agreement before working aboard the Scheherazade.
The Times reports that the Scheherazade has also taken extra steps to ensure privacy, including a cover to protect its nameplate and a barrier at the port to obstruct some of the boat from view.
Bennett-Pearce told The Times that he was forced to hand over the owner's information to "men in dark suits" Monday, but that he was promised the identity of the owner would remain confidential.
"They are looking hard," Bennett-Pearce told The Times. "They are looking at every aspect."
But Bennett-Pearce told The Times that the ship does not belong to a Russian oligarch or to Putin.
"I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this will clear the vessel of all negative rumors and speculations," he told the Times.
sanctions meant wages couldn't be paid, reports say
Grace Dean
The US Treasury says the yacht's estimated worth is between $600 million and $735 million.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images, Sabri Kesen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The crew of the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov's superyacht was fired on Monday, reports said.
The company that staffed the boat said sanctions meant crew wages couldn't be paid, Forbes reported.
Usmanov's estimated worth is $18.4 billion, and his yacht is valued at $600 million to $735 million.
The crew of the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov's 512-foot superyacht was fired after Western sanctions prevented wages from being paid to the vessel's staff, multiple outlets reported.
Sarnia Yachts, a yacht-management company in the UK that provided the crew for the $600 million vessel, Dilbar, said in an email to staff on Monday that "normal operation of the yacht has ceased," and that its crew had to be dismissed "as a result of the sanctions imposed," Forbes reported.
The West has imposed heavy sanctions on Russia, with the aim of crippling its economy and cutting off its military's funding, in an attempt to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine. The West has imposed sanctions not only on Russian banks but also on Russian elites and oligarchs, and they include the seizure of assets such as private jets and superyachts.
The European Union,UK, US, and Switzerland have all sanctioned Usmanov, freezing his assets and, in some cases, barring him from entering their territory. The EU said Usmanov "actively supported" the Russian government's policies of the destabilization of Ukraine.
Usmanov is worth an estimated $18.4 billion, the UK government said. He is the founder of USM Holdings, which has interests in metals, mining, and telecoms. His largest holding is in the Russian steel giant Metalloinvest. The European Union said he had "particularly close ties" to the Kremlin, calling him one of "Putin's favorite oligarchs."
The US has declared Dilbar "blocked property," which prohibits US staff from working on the vessel and bans the payment for its docking fees in US dollars.
Sarnia said in Monday's email to staff that the sanctions meant that some of the companies supporting Dilbar's crew were "unable to continue their normal lines of business," Forbes reported. Sarnia added that it was unable to continue paying salaries to the ship's crew, and that their final wages would instead be paid by the boat's owner, Forbes said.
"We have tried all avenues to find a solution to keep the team in place, and protect our positions, but have reached the end of the road of possibilities," Tim Armstrong, the yacht's captain, wrote in a message to the crew, Bloomberg reported.
The US Treasury said Dilbar's estimated value was between $600 million and $735 million, and that it cost an estimated $60 million per year to run.
Its builder, Lürssen, says it's the "largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage." The vessel is equipped with two helicopter pads and has its own 82-foot swimming pool.
Forbes reported that the ship usually had 96 crew members on board, while Bloomberg put the figure at 80.
Sarnia said in the email to the crew that a small number of staff from Lürssen, which owns the Hamburg shipyard where Dilbar has been docked for a refitting since October, would instead look after the "safety and security" of the ship, Forbes reported.
Forbes also reported that Dilbar had been seized by German authorities on March 2, but it issued a correction the following day that said the ship hadn't been impounded. Hamburg's Ministry for Economy and Innovation told Bloomberg that Dilbar wouldn't be able to leave the port until it received an export waiver from Germany's federal customs agency.
Lürssen declined to comment. Sarnia Yachts and Hamburg's Ministry for Economy and Innovation did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
A $600 million superyacht linked to the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich
has left a Spanish shipyard after
undergoing repairs since 2021
Kate Duffy
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks as Roman Abramovich looks on during a meeting with top businessmen.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
A superyacht linked to Roman Abramovich has left a Spanish shipyard, according to MarineTraffic.
The $600 million yacht had been docked there for repairs since late 2021, one person told Reuters.
Abramovich hasn't yet come under sanctions imposed by the US or European Union.
A superyacht with ties to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich departed from Barcelona in Spain on Tuesday after undergoing repairs since last year.
The yacht's departure was first reported by Reuters.
The vessel, named Solaris, left the shipyard of the Spanish yacht-maintenance firm MB92 in Barcelona on Tuesday afternoon, according to the ship-tracking site MarineTraffic.
Solaris, which spans 140 meters, or 460 feet, has a price tag of $600 million and can hold up to 36 guests, according to SuperYachtFan, which said that Abramovich owns the yacht.
The yacht was finished in 2021 after being built by the German company Lloyd Werft, according to SuperYacht Times.
A person in the industry told Reuters that the yacht had been docked at the Barcelona shipyard since late 2021, but it wasn't clear where it was headed next.
"We never comment on the movements of the yacht or any other vehicles or vessels," a spokesperson for Abramovich told Reuters.
MB92 declined to comment to Reuters and Insider.
The news comes as the wealthiest Russians sought to move their yachts and private jets to different locations after the invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to protect their assets.
Abramovich, who has a net worth of $13.6 billion, according to a Bloomberg estimate, hasn't yet come under US or EU sanctions, which have been imposed on other Russian oligarchs and billionaires with ties to President Vladimir Putin since his troops invaded Ukraine.
Last week, Abramovich announced he was selling the English Premier League team Chelsea FC, with an asking price of $2.5 billion, The New York Times reported.
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