The desperation of the oligarchs

Expensive and long escapes

Before the $325 million megayacht "Amadea" became embroiled in a legal dispute in the South Pacific, the luxury vessel, owned by billionaire Suleiman Kerimov according to the US government, was on an 18-day voyage from the Caribbean to Fiji that likely resulted in a fuel bill of more than $500,000. There is speculation that the superyacht was en route to the Russian port of Vladivostok before the authorities in Fiji seized it at the request of US authorities. Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February has triggered a series of financial sanctions in Washington D.C. and its allies aimed at punishing hundreds of oligarchs and business tycoons close to President Vladimir Putin. Various governments have targeted the moguls' mansions, aeroplanes and pleasure boats and seized more than a dozen multimillion-dollar megayachts. (marineforum reported several times)

As a result, luxury vessels are fleeing to distant locations where sanctions are less likely to take effect. In collaboration with analytics firm Spire Global Inc, Bloomberg News has tracked the longest voyages of yachts with ties to Russian tycoons on sanctions lists.

The "Amadea" has made the longest voyage, travelling 8,358 nautical miles since 24 February and thus covering almost half of all the miles travelled last year, according to Spire's analysis. The "Amadea", which has a helipad, a mosaic-tiled pool and a lobster tank, had been anchored off the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten since Christmas and was still there when Russia began its armed conflict in Ukraine. On 12 March, it sailed through the Panama Canal to Mexico, presumably as a refuelling stop. The 348-foot-long "Amadea" then set course for Fiji at an SOA of 13 miles per hour and entered the port of Lautoka on 12 April, apparently without the necessary permits. Fiji obtained a court injunction a week later to prevent the ship from leaving. The Fiji Supreme Court this week gave the go-ahead for the seizure of the Amadea by the American and local authorities. The lawyer for the ship's registered owner, Millemarin Investments Ltd, has applied for a stay of the order, saying the ship belongs to another Russian tycoon and not gold billionaire Kerimov, as the US government claims. The search for safe harbours for the "Amadea" was an expensive affair. The Cayman Islands-flagged ship can travel around 10,000 nautical miles on a full tank - she can hold 392,000 litres of fuel, and a full tank would cost the Russian owner around 530,000 dollars at current diesel prices in Europe.

Not much different the "Clio", a 65 million dollar yacht owned by Russian aluminium billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who is also on the sanctions list due to his links to Putin, has travelled the second most miles since the invasion of Ukraine with a total of 7,374 nautical miles. The 239-foot yacht was in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean when the investigation into Deripaska and other oligarchs close to the Russian president gathered pace after the outbreak of war. The "Clio" has room for 18 passengers. It was on its way to Dubai before turning south, returning to the Maldives and then embarking on a 3,000-mile journey through the Suez Canal to the north-west. The ship was last seen in the Black Sea off Istanbul, where several Russian ports were within range, before its automatic identification system stopped transmitting its position on 18 April. The "Clio" has 250,000 litres of fuel on board. A full tank would cost almost 340,000 $.

The 465-foot-long "Nord" - a $500 million floating palace with two helipads, a cinema and 20 luxury cabins - is reportedly owned by sanctioned Russian steel billionaire Alexey Mordashov. The ship has travelled some 6,701 nautical miles during this period - mostly on its voyage to return to the Russian port of Vladivostok in March. The ship spent the winter in the Maldives and the Seychelles. It left the Seychelles on 12 March and headed for Sri Lanka - but made an unusual 90-degree turn before arriving. The yacht arrived in Vladivostok on 11 April, where it is still moored. The ship has 345,000 litres of fuel on board, and a full tank for the trip to Russia would cost around 465,000 dollars.

Source: Bloomberg L.P. / AIS / own research