To avoid his yacht being seized Russian oligarch sailed at full speed for 18 days.

[herding cats]

To avoid capture, this $325 million superyacht of one of Russia’s wealthiest oligarchs sailed at full speed for 18 days to cross the Pacific ocean. Now the 347 feet vessel is held in Fiji for docking without customs clearance and the US government is planning to seize it.

Sanctioned Russian billionaire by Suleiman Kerimov’s $325 million superyacht Amadea aimed to reach Australia to avoid seizure at all costs. However, The United States is striving to seize the Amadea currently docked in Fiji. The vessel is believed to have traveled for 18 days from Mexico and crossed the Pacific only to end up in choppier waters.

Suleiman Kerimov is the subject of economic sanctions by the United States and the European Union, which is why Fiji’s director of public prosecutions, Christopher Pryde, applied to the High Court to prevent the Amadea from leaving Fiji. Officials captured Kerimov’s 347-footer after it arrived at the Pacific island nation without customs clearance.

As per The Guardian, the application requested “the motor yacht Amadea be restrained from leaving Fijian waters until the finalization of an application to register a warrant to seize the property and (ii) that the U.S. warrant to seize the Amadea be registered.” The U.S. embassy said in a statement, “We continue to ratchet up the pressure on Putin’s oligarchs, and we are working with allies and partners to go after corrupt gains from some of the individuals closest to Putin, no matter where they are held around the world,” shared Reuters.


More: https://luxurylaunches.com/transport/us-government-to-seized-amadea-superyacht.php

I love it when a story has a happy ending!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. I have been to Fiji.

A Super yacht like that will stick out like a sore thumb.

Fiji is a poor Island nation. One is either very rich or very poor. There is very little middle ground here.

[Emile]

14. They can use this yacht for low income housing.

[TheBlackAdder]

2. They'd be safer taking that shit to Kong Island.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Or to where this one went

[Ilsa]

8. LOL!!! nt

[lastlib]

11. I guess they never did find that one.....pity

[lame54]

3. Wish the flat-earthers were right

[dchill]

5. The engines will probably need rebuilt.

[groundloop]

12. Doubtful..... but I'm sure he had a hell of a fuel bill.

[WarGamer]

6. Will end up in US Courts...

https://asiapacificreport.nz/2022/04/26/graham-davis-behind-the-saga-of-the-seized-russian-super-yacht-amadea/

Incredibly, there is still doubt about the vessel’s true ownership. The whole world has been told that it belongs to the Russian oligarch, Suleiman Kerimov, but there is still evidently no conclusive proof — the vessel’s ownership evidently buried in a labyrinth of multiple shelf companies in places like the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.

For the purposes of the High Court case in Suva, the owner is officially stated as being Millemarin Investment Limited. Is it Suleiman Kerimov?


Millemarin Investment’s local lawyer, Feizal Hannif, told the court there was no evidence that it is. He said the vessel’s beneficial owner was in fact one Eduard Khudaynatov. But counsel for the DPP, Jayneeta Prasad, argued that the ownership of the vessel was not an issue. It was subject to a US warrant and the ownership issue was for the American courts to decide.

[SledDriver]

15. Easiest way to tell

Tow it out and sink it. Then wait and see who claims it.

[Iggo]

17. Seize it and see who cries.

[Cha]

7. C'est la guerre!

TY, Cat!

💙💛

[Baked Potato]

9. Probably didn't even change the oil before heading out. Nt

[Bev54]

10. Is Australia not party to the sanctions?

[BumRushDaShow]

13. But look who is "nearby" to Fiji

But yes, Australia has its own sanctions - https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/security/sanctions/sanctions-regimes/russia-sanctions-regime

But since the country is so huge, I suppose the yacht pilot figured they could make a beeline for some obscure location along the Australian coast and try to "blend in" through some arrangement with someone there. I expect Australia may try to find out who was arranging that.

[Demovictory9]

16. full speed for 18 days...sounds fuel expensive