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France seizes its first yacht as the West pledges to crack down on Russian oligarchs

Rachel Treisman

Amore Vero, the yacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, is pictured in the shipyard of La Ciotat in southern France on Thursday. Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Amore Vero, the yacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, is pictured in the shipyard of La Ciotat in southern France on Thursday.

French authorities say they have seized a yacht linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Igor Sechin.

Sechin served as Russia's deputy prime minister from 2008 to 2012 and is the current CEO of state oil company Rosneft.

Ukraine invasion — explained

The u.s. keeps turning to sanctions despite their mixed record.

He is among the several "elites close to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin" that the U.S. Treasury Department targeted with sanctions last week. The European Union imposed sanctions against Sechin on Monday, calling him one of Putin's "most trusted and closest advisors, as well as his personal friend" and saying the two were in daily contact.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Thursday that French authorities had seized Sechin's yacht — named "Amor Vero," or "True Love" in Italian — at the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat on Wednesday.

"Thanks to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Union's sanctions against those close to the Russian government," he said, according to a Reuters translation of his tweet.

How everyday Russians are feeling the impact from sanctions

The 280-foot yacht had been docked in southern France's La Ciotat since early January, and was set to remain there undergoing repairs through the end of March, CNBC reports . But the French ministry of finance said the yacht was preparing to cast off when authorities began their check, which lasted several hours.

The ministry said it had identified Sechin as the main shareholder of the company that owns the yacht, according to The Guardian .

"As part of the implementation of European Union sanctions against Russia and in support of Ukraine, we seized a first yacht," French Minister at the Ministry of Public Action and Accounts Olivier Dussopt wrote in a tweet on Thursday translated by France24 .

Dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre des sanctions de l'Union européenne à l'encontre de la Russie et en soutien à l’Ukraine 🇺🇦 nous avons procédé à la saisie d’un premier yacht. ➡️ L’Amore Vero est immobilisé en France. pic.twitter.com/ncr4UOP3OD — Olivier Dussopt (@olivierdussopt) March 3, 2022

The U.S. sanctioned more oligarchs on Thursday

The U.S. announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russian oligarchs later Thursday.

It enacted "full blocking sanctions" on eight oligarchs and their families and imposed visa restrictions on 19 others as well as 47 of their family members and close associates.

"These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people, and some have elevated their family members into high-ranking positions," the White House said in a statement. "Others sit atop Russia's largest companies and are responsible for providing the resources necessary to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine."

It said those targeted by the sanctions will be cut off from the U.S. financial system, with their assets in the U.S. frozen and their property blocked from use. The individuals named include Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, and billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

Superyachts headed for safe harbor after U.S. and Europe announced sanctions

Citing data from shipping database Marine Traffic, CNBC has reported that at least four Russian billionaires began moving their superyachts toward Montenegro and the Maldives — which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S. — after the U.S. and other Western countries announced a raft of sanctions against Russian oligarchs and financial institutions.

President Biden has repeatedly pledged to pursue the crimes of Russian oligarchs, including in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The Dutch vow to egg Jeff Bezos' yacht if a bridge is dismantled to let his boat pass

"We're joining with European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets," he said. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

The following day, the U.S. Department of Justice announced "Task Force KleptoCapture," which it says will enforce sanctions and other financial measures imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, seize the assets of people who violate them and leave no stone unturned in investigating criminal acts that support Russia's aggression.

German authorities deny reports that they seized an oligarch's yacht

France's announcement comes a day after Forbes reported — citing three yacht industry sources — that German authorities in the port city of Hamburg had seized Usmanov's superyacht.

The status of the yacht is unclear.

Hamburg officials have since denied the report, with a spokesperson for its economic authority telling The Guardian that "no yachts have been confiscated." Any order to seize properties subject to sanctions would have to come from higher federal customs authorities, they added.

The U.S. sanctions Russian President Vladimir Putin

But when the White House announced sanctions against Usmanov and other oligarchs on Thursday, it said the superyacht — which it called "one of the world's largest" had been seized by Germany. Officials said property like his yacht and private jet will be blocked from use in the U.S.

The yacht in question, named "Dilbar," measures 512 feet long and is valued at $600 million, both outlets report. It can accommodate as many as 24 guests in a dozen suites, as well as up to 96 crew members, according to luxury yacht comparison site YachtCharterFleet .

Putin's alleged yacht is believed to be out of reach

Satellite imagery obtained by CBS News shows the superyacht believed to be owned by Putin docked in Kaliningrad, a "highly militarized port in Russian territorial waters" and out of reach of U.S. sanctions.

Marine Traffic data suggests "the Graceful," Putin's alleged yacht, left Germany two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the "hacktivist" group Anonymous took credit for changing the yacht's call sign to "FKPTN" and its destination to "hell."

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Spain seizes another Russian yacht believed to belong to an oligarch.

The ship was impounded in the Spanish port of Tarragona pending an inspection to establish its exact ownership, Spain’s transport ministry said.

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By Raphael Minder and Michael Forsythe

• March 16, 2022

MADRID — Spain, which has pledged to seize the suspected superyachts of Russian oligarchs targeted for sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on Wednesday impounded the third such vessel, one of the world’s biggest superyachts, in Spanish territorial waters this week.

The ship was impounded in the Spanish port of Tarragona, pending an inspection to establish its exact ownership, Spain’s transport ministry said in a statement. The ship, called the Crescent, was registered in the Cayman Islands.

The Spanish authorities have taken similar measures against two other yachts, the Valerie, which was in a maintenance yard in Barcelona, and Lady Anastasia, a yacht that was moored in Port Adriano, on the Spanish island of Majorca.

Spain’s hunt for Russian-owned superyachts comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the seizure of the Valerie on Monday and warned that “there will be more.”

The transport ministry said on Wednesday that if the inspections confirmed that the yachts belonged to people on the sanctions list drawn up by the European Union, they would remain fully immobilized.

The Valerie is suspected of being indirectly owned by Sergei Chemezov, the head of Rostec, a Russian industrial conglomerate that also makes military technology and equipment. The vessel was one of four Russian-owned superyachts that had recently been undergoing work at MB92, a shipyard that has helped establish Barcelona as one of the main hubs for the extravagant yachts owned by the super wealthy.

The Crescent, valued by the SuperYachtFan website at $600 million, appears to be the sister ship of the slightly larger, slightly more expensive Scheherazade, a 459-foot superyacht that U.S. officials said could be associated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Both were built at the same German shipyard, Lurssen, where the Crescent was given the project name “ Thunder ,” while the Scheherazade, put into service about two years later, was called “Lightning.” Both share the same interior and exterior designers and have been managed by a Monaco company, Imperial Yachts, which caters to Russian oligarchs.

The two yachts also share another, unusual characteristic: Photos of the Crescent taken on March 13 by a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, Alex Finley, in the Spanish port where it was impounded appear to show that the Crescent conceals its nameplate while in port, just like the Scheherazade .

Track information on the Crescent from MarineTraffic , a maritime data provider, shows that Crescent spends most of its time in the Mediterranean, cruising between Spain, Italy, France and Montenegro, a popular destination for the yachts of Russian oligarchs. The 445-foot long Crescent, one of the 20 largest superyachts , has been at the Tarragona marina since early November.

Last week Italian police said they were investigating the ownership of the Scheherazade, which is in dry dock at a port on the Tuscany coast.

The Lady Anastasia, which was impounded on the island of Mallorca, is believed to be owned by Alexander Mikheev, a Russian arms dealer. In late February, the police on Majorca detained a Ukrainian member of the yacht’s crew because he had been planning to sink the vessel, in retaliation for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was released on bail, pending an investigation.

In early March, the French authorities seized a yacht in a yard in La Ciotat, which they said was linked to Igor Sechin, the chief executive of the state oil company Rosneft and a former deputy prime minister of Russia. The French yard is owned by MB92, the Spanish company that owns the yard in Barcelona.

MB92 said at the time that it was cooperating with the French authorities and would respond in due course to any possible further sanctions against Russians. “We are continuously monitoring the decisions taken by the Spanish authorities, the European Union and the U.S. as they come into effect,” the company said.

Raphael Minder  covers Spain and Portugal, based in Madrid. He previously worked for Bloomberg News in Switzerland and for the Financial Times in Paris, Brussels, Sydney and finally Hong Kong. More about Raphael Minder

Michael Forsythe is a reporter on the investigations team. He was previously a correspondent in Hong Kong, covering the intersection of money and politics in China. He has also worked at Bloomberg News and is a United States Navy veteran. More about Michael Forsythe

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

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We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts .

Here are the superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs

As part of an international pressure campaign on Russia, authorities from around the world have seized more than a half-dozen superyachts belonging to billionaire oligarchs allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The yacht seizures since the Feb. 24 invasion are "just the beginning," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in March, as an international task force worked to identify further assets that can be seized or frozen.

“The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said of the ongoing efforts in May.

Here are the superyachts government officials have seized since Russia invaded Ukraine last month.

The Justice Department announced May 5 that the Fijian government had seized billionaire oligarch Suleiman Kerimov 's 348-foot yacht Amadea. The vessel, which is valued at more than $300 million , arrived in Fiji last month. Kerimov, who's worth an estimated $14 billion and has ties to the Russian government, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department over alleged money laundering in 2018.

Special features on the sprawling yacht include a helipad, infinity pool, a jacuzzi and multiple bars, according to a report in Boat International . It can accommodate 16 overnight guests in addition to 36 crew members, the report said.

In April, Spanish law-enforcement officials seized a 255-foot yacht called the Tango, which Justice Department says is owned by oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Vekselberg is an aluminum magnate who the Treasury Department says has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Tango is worth an estimated $90 million, prosecutors said , and Vekselberg allegedly purchased it through shell companies. The 11-year-old yacht has seven staterooms and reportedly includes amenities such as a pool, gym and beauty salon .

Authorities in Italy seized a 215-foot superyacht called the Lady M this month. It's owned by Alexei Mordashov, Russia's richest businessman, and it’s estimated to be worth $27 million . The vessel, which requires a crew of 14, has six guest cabins , a pool and a gym.

But it pales in comparison to another of Mordashov's yachts, the $500 million Nord . The 464-foot vessel, which has two helipads and a waterfall and can accommodate 36 guests, was anchored this month in the Seychelles, where the U.S. and European Union sanctions don’t apply.

Italian officials also seized the 132-foot superyacht Lena, owned by the energy magnate Gennady Timchenko. Estimated to be worth $8 million, it has five cabins and can accommodate 10 guests.

SY A — short for Sailing Yacht A — is one of the world's largest superyachts. Valued at over $440 million, the 469-foot vessel, owned by the fertilizer magnate Andrey Melnichenko, has eight decks, multiple elevators, an underwater observation area and the world's tallest masts . It was seized in the Italian port of Trieste.

Authorities in Spain seized Sergei Chemezov's Valerie, a 279-foot superyacht that had been moored in Barcelona. Chemezov , a former KGB officer, heads the state conglomerate Rostec. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez touted the seizure on La Sexta television. “We are talking about a yacht that we estimate is worth $140 million,” Sanchez said.

Officials in France announced this month that they had seized the 289-foot Amore Vero, which was undergoing repairs in a shipyard near Marseille. When they arrived, authorities said, they found the crew preparing for an urgent departure, even though the repair work was scheduled to last through April. The $120 million boat, which has seven cabins , is linked to Igor Sechin, described by the U.S. Treasury Department as a close ally of Putin's.

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.

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War in Ukraine: Russian oligarch’s €120m yacht seized in French port

Customs officers took possession of the vessel in la ciotat near marseille where it was undergoing repairs. it was said to be preparing to set sail urgently with the repairs incomplete.

A yacht linked to a Russian oligarch has been seized by the French Douanes (customs) in a La Ciotat (Bouches-du-Rhône) shipyard.

The yacht belonged to a company linked to Igor Sechin, who is the CEO of Russian oil company Rosneft.

“French customs officers seized the Amore Vero yacht in La Ciotat, as they worked to enforce European Union sanctions against Russia,” France’s economy and finance ministry announced in a statement.

The repossession took place last night (March 2) after several hours of checks, unbeknownst to the shipyard operators.

Amore Vero had arrived in La Ciotat on January 3 and was due to stay there until April 1 for repairs. It is a luxury yacht measuring 86 metres in length, only a bit shorter than a football pitch, and worth €120million.

The yacht houses a swimming pool which can be converted into a helipad, and its interior was designed by renowned architect Alberto Pinto. Its annual maintenance costs come to €12million.

“At the time of the checks, the boat was preparing to set sail urgently, the [repair] work being still incomplete,” the government statement added.

The customs controls showed that “this attempt to leave French waters was an infraction of Article 459 of the Code des douanes,” and so it became necessary to seize the vessel.

“This yacht was included in measures freezing the property of its owner under the [EU] regulation 2022/336 of February 28.”

Amore Vero is the third boat intercepted by French authorities as part of its execution of sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

On Saturday (February 26), a commercial vessel belonging to Russian bank PSB was stopped in the Channel, and on Sunday, a Russian cargo ship called Victor Andryukhin was intercepted in the Marseille-Fos port.

Who is Igor Sechin?

As well as being an oligarch, Igor Sechin, 61, is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, and sometimes considered to be his ‘de facto deputy’.

He has been involved with the Russian government since the 1990s and from May 2008 until May 2012, he served as deputy prime minister in Putin’s cabinet.

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• News & Stories

France seizes its first yacht as the West pledges to crack down on Russian oligarchs

• Rachel Treisman

French authorities say they have seized a yacht linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Igor Sechin.

Sechin served as Russia's deputy prime minister from 2008 to 2012 and is the current CEO of state oil company Rosneft.

He is among the several "elites close to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin" that the U.S. Treasury Department targeted with sanctions last week. The European Union imposed sanctions against Sechin on Monday, calling him one of Putin's "most trusted and closest advisors, as well as his personal friend" and saying the two were in daily contact.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Thursday that French authorities had seized Sechin's yacht — named "Amor Vero," or "True Love" in Italian — at the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat on Wednesday.

"Thanks to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Union's sanctions against those close to the Russian government," he said, according to a Reuters translation of his tweet.

The 280-foot yacht had been docked in southern France's La Ciotat since early January, and was set to remain there undergoing repairs through the end of March, CNBC reports. But the French ministry of finance said the yacht was preparing to cast off when authorities began their check, which lasted several hours.

The ministry said it had identified Sechin as the main shareholder of the company that owns the yacht, according to The Guardian.

"As part of the implementation of European Union sanctions against Russia and in support of Ukraine, we seized a first yacht," French Minister at the Ministry of Public Action and Accounts Olivier Dussopt wrote in a tweet translated by France24.

Superyachts headed for safe harbor after U.S. and Europe announced sanctions

Citing data from shipping database Marine Traffic, CNBC has reported that at least four Russian billionaires began moving their superyachts toward Montenegro and the Maldives — which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S. — after the U.S. and other Western countries announced a raft of sanctions against Russian oligarchs and financial institutions.

President Biden has repeatedly pledged to pursue the crimes of Russian oligarchs, including in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

"We're joining with European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets," he said. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

The following day, the U.S. Department of Justice announced "Task Force KleptoCapture," which it says will enforce sanctions and other financial measures imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, seize the assets of people who violate them and leave no stone unturned in investigating criminal acts that support Russia's aggression.

German authorities deny reports that they seized an oligarch's yacht

France's announcement comes a day after Forbes reported — citing three yacht industry sources — that German authorities in the port city of Hamburg had seized the superyacht of another sanctioned Russian billionaire, Alisher Usmanov.

Hamburg officials have since denied the report, with a spokesperson for its economic authority telling The Guardian that "no yachts have been confiscated." Any order to seize properties subject to sanctions would have to come from higher federal customs authorities, they added.

The yacht in question, named "Dilbar," measures 512 feet long and is valued at $600 million, both outlets report. It can accommodate as many as 24 guests in a dozen suites, as well as up to 96 crew members, according to luxury yacht comparison site YachtCharterFleet.

Putin's alleged yacht is believed to be out of reach

Satellite imagery obtained by CBS News shows the superyacht believed to be owned by Putin docked in Kaliningrad, a "highly militarized port in Russian territorial waters" and out of reach of U.S. sanctions.

Marine Traffic data suggests "the Graceful," Putin's alleged yacht, left Germany two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the "hacktivist" group Anonymous took credit for changing the yacht's call sign to "FKPTN" and its destination to "hell." [Copyright 2022 NPR]

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Yachts Owned by Russian Oligarchs Seized in Europe

A day after German authorities seized a luxury yacht owned by a Russian billionaire, the French government confirmed they, too, had seized an oligarch's yacht this morning.

At the State of the Union, President Joe Biden declared the United States would be coming for the "ill-begotten gains" of Russian oligarchs, including yachts, luxury apartments, and private jets. European nations are beginning to act on this—with two yacht seizures taking place this week.

Sechin is CEO of Rosneft, Russia's state oil and gas company, and a close ally of Russian President Valdimir Putin. Sechin was among the Russian oligarchs listed in European Union sanctions announced on February 28 .

In their declaration, the EU said he is "considered to be one of the most powerful members of the Russian political elite. His connections to Vladimir Putin are long and deep."

The 280-foot yacht was not due to leave the French port until April, but French authorities said it was making preparations to leave urgently. "Thank you to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Union's sanctions against those close to the Russian government," Minister Le Maire said in a tweet announcing the seizure.

The news of the yacht seizure in France comes a day after Germany announced they had seized Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's luxury yacht. Usmanov, like Sechin, is on the list of EU sanctions.

Per the EU, Usmanov "is pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has been referred to as one of Vladimir Putin’s favorite oligarchs."

Usmanov's yacht, valued at around $600 million, was seized in the northern port of Hamburg, Germany.

Meanwhile, other Russian oligarchs are making moves to get their yachts out of European ports—with at least four superyachts owned by Russians anchored in the Maldives, a nation without an extradition treaty with the United States.

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

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Seize the day: Russian yachts find no safe ports in sanctions storm

Russian yacht owners are encountering rough seas around the world as nations sympathetic to Ukraine's plight press sanctions that include impounding assets of Russia's wealthy class.

World leaders hope harsh economic sanctions that target Vladimir Putin's inner circle of oligarchs could apply pressure on the Russian president to end his brutal military assault on Ukraine.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi says his country froze assets totaling hundreds of millions of dollars belonging or linked to several Russian oligarchs as part of sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. 

Yachts are not sailing under Draghi's radar. Italy announced Saturday that it had seized a $580 million superyacht linked to Russian energy and fertilizer magnate Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko. The sail-assisted, motorized "SYA" – or Sailing Yacht A – was seized on Friday in the northeastern port of Trieste.

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Melnichenko doth protest, his spokesman saying Melnichenko has nothing to do with the war and thus should not be on the sanctions list. Among the world's largest yachts, his SYA is 469-feet long, or more than 1.5 football fields. It has eight decks and an underwater observation area with foot-thick glass.

The size and value of SYA dwarfs some other Italian targets, but they are not exactly dinghies. A yacht belonging to metals tycoon Alexei Mordashov, believed to be Russia's richest man, was impounded more than a week ago in the northern Italian port of Imperia. "Lady M," made in the U.S. is 215-feet long and has six luxury state rooms. Estimates of its value vary but have climbed as high as $70 million. 

TEEN TRACKING RUSSIAN YACHTS:  Teenager who was tracking Elon Musk has switched to Russian oligarchs' yachts and jets

Billionaire investment guru Gennady Timshenko did not escape unscathed. His yacht Lena, a mere 126-feet long, was seized on the northeastern coastal city of San Remo.

Italy has been aggressive, but other European nations have proved unwilling to provide safe ports in the financial storm. Alisher Usmanov, who made his money in cellphones and copper, gave up his $600 million, 500-foot yacht Dilbar in Hamburg, Germany. Modest accommodations he can no longer enjoy include a 25-meter swimming pool and two helipads.

The $120 million, 280-foot-long Amore Vero was seized by France in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat. It has been linked to Igor Sechin, CEO of the Russian state oil company.

Europe is clearly taking to heart President Joe Biden's statement warning to the Russian wealthy during his State of the Union Address.

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets," Biden said in his address. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains." 

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86m Amore Vero seized in France under EU sanctions against Russia

Related articles, superyacht directory.

The French authorities have seized the 85.6-metre Oceanco superyacht Amore Vero in La Ciotat in the South of France under new sanctions issued by the European Union against Russia.

The yacht was seized by customs in the French port on March 2 after it was found in breach of the law by attempting to leave.

In a statement, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance linked the yacht to Igor Sechin, who was added to a list of sanctioned individuals by the European Union on February 28. The sanction document said Sechin was one of Vladimir Putin's "most trusted and closest advisors" and "one of the most powerful members of the Russian political elite."

Dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre des sanctions de l'Union européenne à l'encontre de la Russie et en soutien à l’Ukraine 🇺🇦 nous avons procédé à la saisie d’un premier yacht. ➡️ L’Amore Vero est immobilisé en France. pic.twitter.com/ncr4UOP3OD — Olivier Dussopt (@olivierdussopt) March 3, 2022

The statement said: "This attempt to leave French territorial waters constituted an offence on the basis of article 459 of the customs code, aimed at 'any person' contravening 'the measures restricting economic relations and financial resources provided for by community regulations'."

"This yacht fell within the scope of the freezing measures decided against its owner. Immediately applicable, these measures required the immobilisation of the vessel."

Amore Vero arrived in La Ciotat on January 2 where repairs were due to be carried out over three months. "The ship was making arrangements to sail urgently without having completed the planned work," the statement read.

The vessel was stopped and boarded by authorities who spent "several hours" on board.

Bruno Le Maire, minister of economy, finance and relations and Olivier Dussopt, minister of public action and accounts, said: "We thank the customs for this seizure reviewed in the context of the implementation of the sanctions of the European Union against Russia."

Amore Vero was built by Dutch shipyard Oceanco and delivered to its owner in 2013 under the name St. Princess Olga . 

Meanwhile, German authorities have denied reports that 156 metre Lurssen motor yacht Dilbar has been seized. Recent press reports said the yacht had been seized in the port of Hamburg, but a spokesperson for the city's economic authority said: "No yachts have been confiscated."

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Targeting super yachts owned by Russian oligarchs could hit a nerve in Moscow

Poor transparency around ownership of assets can cause challenges, experts say.

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With sanctions levied and financial assets seized, Russian oligarchs have been scrambling to get their super yachts out of Western ports in search of safer harbours. 

One yacht, said to belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin himself, abruptly left port in Hamburg, Germany, just weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted wide-reaching sanctions. Others were not so quick to leave European ports. 

Authorities in La Ciotat, on France's Mediterranean coast, seized a yacht they say is linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, the CEO of state oil company Rosneft. He was Russia's deputy prime minister from 2008 to 2012.

• Canada slaps sanctions on Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich
• Analysis With Russia pressing on and Ukraine digging in, how will Putin's war actually end?

Industry watchers say oligarchs everywhere are trying to keep their yachts from being taken.

​​"There's a few yachts that we are watching at the moment in the Atlantic," said Sam Tucker, head of super yachts at the firm VesselsValue, which tracks and estimates the value of these giant luxury yachts. 

"I'm expecting some of them to start doing U-turns in the middle of the ocean," he told CBC Radio's Day 6 .

Western countries have imposed a punishing package of sanctions and export control restrictions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Russia's biggest banks were hit, as was the country's central bank. Major state-owned companies and some of the country's wealthiest individuals have seen overseas assets frozen.

The investment bank JP Morgan Chase believes Russia's economy will shrink 35 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 and seven per cent for the entire year.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki says the suite of sanctions is meant to make every aspect of life difficult on Putin and the oligarchs who protect him.

"What we're talking about here is seizing their assets, seizing their yachts and making it harder for them to send their children to go to colleges and universities in the West," Psaki said in a briefing this week. "These are significant steps that will impact the people who are closely around President Putin."

<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Putin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Putin</a>´s Yacht "The Gracefull" inbound Kaliningrad from Hamburg in anticipation of future sanctions due to the conflict in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a>. <a href="https://t.co/qdhAUhCH1m">pic.twitter.com/qdhAUhCH1m</a> &mdash; @GDarkconrad

Symbolic target

The yachts themselves are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but experts in Russian sanctions say this isn't just about the dollar value.

"They don't have much value compared to the total net worth of an oligarch," said Bill Browder, a long-time advocate for stiff sanctions against Russian oligarchs, in an email to CBC Radio. 

But they are "a highly symbolic attack on something coveted by the oligarchs."

These ultra-luxurious ships became a status symbol for the oligarchs as they amassed fortunes in the 1990s and early 2000s.

"There is a bit of oneupmanship," Tucker told Day 6 . He says the biggest and most expensive ships are cloaked in secrecy. They have extreme privacy and security features, including bulletproof glass, and some require crew to sign non-disclosure agreements.

But Tucker says the biggest security and privacy feature of all is the opaque ownership structure of the yachts. He says precious little information about who actually owns these ships is available.

"[Only] basic information is disclosed — for example, the registered owner — which is often a shell company or a 'special interest vehicle' registered in Monaco, Malta, [or the] Cayman Islands," he said.

Untying those knots is a notorious problem, but one usually confined to taxation issues.

"One thing that I think may come out of this whole situation is the increased call for transparency and transparent ownership," said Tucker.

Yachts on the move

So far, only four super yachts have been seized, including a 213-foot yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov in Imperia, Italy.

While authorities sift through the byzantine paper trail of ownership, other oligarchs have scrambled their crews to get the yachts to somewhere safe.

"One of the things I've been trying to figure out is, where do they go [next]?" asked Alex Finley, a former CIA officer living in Barcelona, in an interview with  As It Happens host Gillian Findlay .

This week, Finley tweeted photos tracking a ship said to be owned by Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who owns the Chelsea Football Club.

• Anxious Russians flee by the hundreds each day into neighbouring Finland

"A lot of these yachts that we've been looking at are heading towards the Maldives or the Seychelles. A few are in Montenegro, but they look like they're probably going to be on the move," Finley said in the interview .

Here you can see the sterns of both Aurora and Valerie, and in the other pic, the empty slip where Solaris used to be (which is the size of the empty hole in my heart). 7/ <a href="https://t.co/Luvj5vyWXp">pic.twitter.com/Luvj5vyWXp</a> &mdash; @alexzfinley

Neither the Maldives nor the Seychelles signed onto the sanctions, so the ships are probably safe from seizure there. Another major hub is Dubai.

"I think we're going to see Dubai as a big hotspot for these yachts," said Tucker. "It has hot weather all year round and … Russians can fly to Dubai without going through the EU airspace."

Tucker agrees that targeting the yachts is a symbolic move.

"It's really sending the message that they aren't untouchable. We've closed the skies on both sides of the Atlantic so their private jets can't operate, and now we're going after their super yachts," he said.

"I'd be feeling quite vulnerable if I was an oligarch right now."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Senior Business reporter for CBC News. A former host of On the Money and World Report on CBC Radio, Peter Armstrong has been a foreign correspondent and parliamentary reporter for CBC. Subscribe to Peter's newsletter here: cbc.ca/mindyourbusiness Twitter: @armstrongcbc

Interview with Sam Tucker produced by Rachel Levy-Mclaughlin

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• U.K. imposes sanctions on Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich

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Italy seizes $156 million in oligarch wealth, pressing Putin

Italian Finance Police stand by the yacht “Lady M”, owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, docked at Imperia’s harbor, Italy, Saturday, March 5, 2022. European governments are moving against Russian oligarchs to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down on his war in Ukraine, seizing superyachts and other luxury properties from billionaires on sanctions lists. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

FILE - The yacht Amore Vero is docked in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat, Thursday March 3, 2022. French authorities seized the yacht linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs the Russian oil giant Rosneft, in the Mediterranean resore of La Ciotat, where it arrived in January for repairs. French officials said the crew was preparing for urgent departure when they arrived, even through the repairs were still under way. (AP. Photo/Bishr Eltoni, File)

FILE - This photo provided Thursday March 3, 2022 by the French Customs shows the yacht Amore Vero docked in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat, Wednesday March 2, 2022. French authorities seized the yacht linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs the Russian oil giant Rosneft, in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat, where it arrived in January for repairs. French officials said the crew was preparing for urgent departure when they arrived, even through the repairs were still under way. (Douane Francaise via AP)

A view of the yacht “Lady M”, owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, at it is docked at Imperia’s harbor, Italy, Saturday, March 5, 2022. European governments are moving against Russian oligarchs to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down on his war in Ukraine, seizing superyachts and other luxury properties from billionaires on sanctions lists. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

An Italian Finance Police car is parked in front of the yacht “Lady M”, owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, docked at Imperia’s harbor, Italy, Saturday, March 5, 2022. European governments are moving against Russian oligarchs to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down on his war in Ukraine, seizing superyachts and other luxury properties from billionaires on sanctions lists. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

The name of yacht “Lady M”, owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, at it is docked at Imperia’s harbor, Italy, Saturday, March 5, 2022. European governments are moving against Russian oligarchs to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down on his war in Ukraine, seizing superyachts and other luxury properties from billionaires on sanctions lists. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

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MILAN (AP) — European governments are moving against Russian oligarchs to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down on his war in Ukraine, seizing superyachts and other luxury properties from billionaires on sanctions lists.

Italy since Friday has seized 143 million euros ($156 million) in luxury yachts and villas in some of its most picturesque destinations, including Sardinia, the Ligurian coast and Lake Como.

“We must be able to stop Putin’s attack, bringing him to the table, and he won’t go with niceties,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told Italian state TV on Friday, announcing Italy’s plans to begin the seizures of property belonging to oligarchs close to Putin.

Italian financial police moved quickly seizing the superyacht “Lena” belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo; the 65-meter (215-foot) “Lady M” owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, featuring six suites and estimated to be worth 65 million euros; as well as villas in Tuscany and Como, according to government officials.

The villa of Russian-Uzbek business magnate Alisher Usmanov also was seized along the tony Emerald Coast in northern Sardinia, long the playground of the world’s wealthiest.

German officials this week denied reports that they had seized Usmanov’s yacht in the port of Hamburg. According to the British government, he also owns Beechwood House in Highgate, worth an estimated 48 million pounds, and the 16th-century Sutton Place estate in Surrey.

Activists say that going after the oligarchs is tantamount to going after Putin.

“Vladimir Putin keeps all his money with the oligarchs,” said William Browder, a U.S.-born and London-based financier and human rights activist who was once a major investor in Russia but ran afoul of the government in the late 2000s.

“And this is a very effective psychological warfare, to start seizing yachts. I think it’s demoralizing for the oligarchs, and it’s demoralizing for Vladimir Putin. And he’s a guy who ... rules by image, you know, is the person who has pictures of himself with the shirt off on a horse. And so it’s a bad image to have one of his best friends’ yacht seized in the south of France,’’ Browder said.

Germany’s Economy Ministry said it was in the process of “swiftly and effectively implementing the Russia sanctions” but declined to say publicly which assets had been seized, if any.

So far, French authorities have seized a yacht linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs the Russian oil giant Rosneft, in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat where it arrived in January for repairs. French officials said Thursday that the crew was preparing for urgent departure when they arrived, even through the repairs were still underway.

Britain, long a haven of oligarch wealth is under pressure to do more. Putin confidant Roman Abramovich, who owns the top-flight football club Chelsea, said this week he would put it up for sale. He has not been sanctioned, but opposition politicians and members of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s party have asked why not.

The UK has frozen the assets of the individuals on its own list and is making changes to the law to make it easier to go after those on the lists of allies after criticism that it has been too slow to act. Still, it will take a long time to unravel, as many assets are in shell companies.

Trisha Thomas in Rome, Danica Kirka in London, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Barbara Surk in Nice, France, contributed to this story.