The Washington Post literally called it "Schadenfreude at sea". Oligarchs are already trying to "obfuscate"
There seems to be something satisfying about following the movements of luxury yachts online, as people around the globe gloat about what problems the oligarchs are having and use Twitter, for example, to gleefully post the names, locations, ownership and current status of various yachts.
People are watching and reporting on how governments around the world are seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs as part of the sanctions for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While money can often be hidden and moved between offshore bank accounts, it's harder to hide a mega yacht with an indoor pool, helipad and tracking system.
Using online tracking sites, fans follow the location of the oligarchs' ships and jets, often in the hope of catching them on the run or in port in a country that is likely to seize them. Accounts have sprung up on social media to track the movements of these luxurious vehicles and find out which vessels have been frozen or seized by governments. Websites such as VesselFinder, MarineTraffic or SuperYachtFan, where you can enter the name of a vessel or a unique identifier, the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) number or the MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity), are on the rise. Thanks to similar satellite-based tracking technology, the locations of the oligarchs' private jets can also be tracked online via websites such as Flightradar24.com. It's not just about location information. Some of the more expensive and well-known yachts have their own Wikipedia pages and online followers, documenting details of their fanciest features.
Russian billionaires became the new object of fascination after the White House and the European Union imposed sanctions on dozens of individual oligarchs and their associates as part of the comprehensive Western crackdown on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Yacht watchers have already witnessed a number of seizures. According to the Associated Press, the Italian financial police seized the superyacht Lena and another named Lady M, owned by Russian oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and Alexei Mordashov respectively. (Marineforum reported)
The practice of tracking the jets of billionaires is not new - hobbyists, reporters and observers have long tracked the movements of executives and government officials by following their private aircraft. MarineTraffic, a website that publishes data on the whereabouts of ships, uses a network of receivers on land as well as satellites to track the position of ships no matter where they are.
Superyacht owners prioritise privacy and discretion, keeping their vessels as inconspicuous as possible and trying to conceal their movements. Some vessels go into hiding, switch off their automatic identification systems and head for safe harbours. Some head for remote Russian harbours not normally associated with luxury yachts.
One of these yachts is the Amadea. This 106-metre yacht is said to belong to Suleyman Kerimov, a Russian-based billionaire and politician who is on the sanctions list. The Amadea stopped transmitting its position via AIS (Automated Information System) on 24 February, just a few hours after the invasion began. AIS is required under the SOLAS (Safety Of Lives At Sea) regulations. The rules of the International Maritime Organisation stipulate that AIS should always be in operation when ships are underway or at anchor.
An exception is permitted if the master believes that the ship is under threat and the AIS could jeopardise the safety of the ship. The captain must also inform the relevant authorities that he is doing this and why. It appears that these yachts are deliberately switching off the AIS to avoid detection.
Sources: APO, Washington Post, Reuters
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