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Luna: The story of the 115m explorer's €50m refit

After several years in the Port of Dubai, the 115 metre Luna has been spotted on the move, according to BOAT Pro's Global Fleet Tracker . As she sets sail for the Mediterranean, we look back at the multi-million dollar refit in 2014 that saw the transformation of this world cruiser.

Originally envisioned as a more elegant version of 113 metre Le Grand Bleu , Luna , when launched, made headlines for two reasons: the celebrity of her first owner, Roman Abramovich, and in more specialist press for that long, low aft deck that sacrificed interior volume for sun worship. That famous pool, the biggest ever seen on a superyacht at the time, is still jaw-dropping, especially when empty and its full scale is revealed.

As one of the world’s most famous explorer yachts, she had done remarkably little exploring since her debut in 2010, but that was set to change when Luna was purchased by new owners in 2014. They spent a season on board in the Med before releasing the yacht in October that year for an extensive refit that would wrap in her five-year survey. 

Almost two years later, in 2016, BOAT International steps on board. The yacht's swimming pool is netted, the crew are busy washing the decks and superstructure, and canvas hides all the sunloungers, but the huge spaces that make Luna so special are impossible to cover up.

And even on a grey, overcast day, her hull absolutely pings: flawless, faired and painted a special new colour christened “Luna Blue”. It’s a marked difference. The yacht’s first owner wanted to reinforce her rugged aesthetic by making a show of her plate seams and welds, but giving her a shiny new coat was the biggest item on the to-do list when Luna was laid up at German Dry Docks in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, in late 2014. “The previous paint wasn’t very attractive,” says the owner’s representative. “Just a top coat over bare hull. Luna now has the most high-quality paint job to date on such a vessel. It’s a complete mirror finish.”

The work was done by local firm Thraki Yacht Painting and constitutes the biggest single change to the boat in its six-year life. It took 70-80 painters eight months to fill and fair more than 2,000 square metres of hull, while also refinishing Luna ’s superstructure. But first the hull was sandblasted to remove any remnants of the old paint.

“We then applied more than 20 tonnes of filler,” says Thraki’s MD Ritvan Metso. “This was followed by two epoxy primers, a show coat and top coat.” The result is an uninterrupted shine as you look down the hull, with no blemishes or movement in the finish. “This is what Luna was missing,” adds the owner’s rep with clear pride.

Frank Neubelt led the design team from German studio Newcruise in defining Luna ’s exterior lines. He calls it a “boy cool” look — tough but elegant. It was the first major motor yacht project worked on by the German designer and remains the biggest.

Outdoor life, obviously, was key to the design and, of all the proposals put in front of Luna ’s first owner, he was “most amazed by the idea to create a very open outer deck”, says the designer. “So we quit all the earlier concepts with lots of toys on board and I was free to create her style.”

The deck below might not be rammed with superyacht water toys but there is still plenty of room — in fact, more than you’d think. To port, two tender garages sit opposite a gym and behind all of this is Luna’s expansive beach club wrapping round a spa, with steam bath, plunge pool and sauna.

This whole area was changed extensively in the refit. Updated equipment from Technogym has been installed in Luna ’s superyacht gym , alongside new mirrored panels lining the length of the space. “Gym equipment keeps changing — and we only like the best,” says the owner’s rep. The glass means you can fold down the huge 12-metre shell door and look out over the water without anyone seeing you sweating inside.

Conversely, the platform means it’s possible to do morning routines outside, with the water lapping almost at your feet. A further shell door opens behind and Luna ’s transom door folds up, to create the feeling of a single, open, water-level space.

The teak throughout this area has been replaced, alongside a host of other cosmetic changes: new mosaic on the walls in the steam room, upgraded AV and a new pantry area to ease service. The sofa in the rearmost section of the beach club now faces backwards — with a view of the sea instead of a TV on the bulkhead, in place of which is now a beautiful fish-eye sculpture discovered in Greece on one of the yacht’s travels. “Who wants to see a huge TV in a beach club?” asks the rep. “ Luna is a boat to relax on! There are 80 other TVs on board.”

Included in the new sofa design are drawers for storing shoes, the idea being that you board via the bathing platform, sit on the sofa, put your shoes in the drawer… “and relax”, he adds. Luna ’s boarding steps have been modified, too: they’ve been opened up to allow guests to walk directly up from the tender, instead of being forced sideways, making it much safer, and easier for crew to assist guests.

Luna ’s owner and his family sometimes take breakfast at the beach club dinette to port, a space they’re already planning to change in the next big yard period by adding a large new shell door on the port side — bringing the number of major openings in this space to six — and 18 portholes in the transom, to give a view and let in light even underway.

Beyond the superyacht's beach club , the entire lower deck is dedicated to Luna ’s crew, who are well served with spacious cabins forward, all of which were upgraded with new upholstery, curtains and AV/IT. Further crew quarters are found on the deck below, but the main attraction here are the machinery spaces.

Big yachts such as Luna have large, impressive engine rooms, but this one stands apart, not just in the volume dedicated to housing the engines and electric motors, but in the polish applied to it. “It’s the most spotless engine room I’ve ever worked in,” reports chief engineer James Burden — the result of a fastidious owner who regularly visits the crew areas.

As a result, the chequerplate floor is polished once a week and you could shave in the cylinder heads. “We even painted the toolboxes the same colour as the engine to keep things neat,” he adds.

Luna ’s seven generators output a total of 15,000hp and they power electric motors coupled to each shaft. “Diesel electric, in terms of operating a ship, is great,” says the chief. “It’s less real estate taken up, it’s less vibration, it’s more economical, it’s more flexible for the owner and it’s more flexible for us to operate.”

She’s got massive power — designed to nudge Luna through shallow ice — and can run at her full speed of 21 knots and still have one generator offline. With all generators engaged and running at full revs, Luna could power a town of 25,000 people. In the yard, the shafts were taken out for survey and maintenance, and seals and bearings were replaced, while air-con was added in a number of the working areas to improve conditions, among a host of other jobs.

The main hot work happened in the living spaces decks above. The lounge fronting Luna ’s observation deck has always been a superb place to be when coming into a new port or anchorage, but it’s been made even better by an extended deck cut-out, creating an entirely new exterior seating area.

“You can now walk to both sides, relax or sleep on the sofa and use it for dining,” reveals the owner’s rep, who has spent considerable time on board Luna . “It was incredible being up there when coming into Cuba. The new exterior observation lounge was very useful.”

Other changes have been made to the rear of the bridge deck, with new extendable wind breaks installed to protect this main outdoor dining space when it’s blowing. The teak has been perfectly re-caulked all over the boat and the two helidecks are now clad in Future Teak from Bolidt, embellished with Luna ’s name and logo.

Donald Starkey was the original interior designer for Luna but joined the project when the yacht, which is managed by Y.CO , was only about 70 per cent complete at its build yard of Lloyd Werft . He worked hard to impose himself on a boat mostly built and won some concessions — extending headroom throughout the living spaces and adding a dining room, which wasn’t on the original GA.

“I did this by subdividing the upper deck lounge on the starboard side,” he says. “I separated the lounge and dining room by a wall incorporating a fireplace, which can be appreciated from both sides.” The stone-panelled finish to this unit is contextual in an interior that leans heavily to the natural.

“My intention was to try and create an elegant but calm feeling, away from the hard-edged traditional glossy interiors,” he says. This extended to sourcing oak panels in Germany cut from large logs that could be sliced into 70cm veneers, to avoid too many joints. The panels were then wire-brushed to expose the deeper grain and stained pale.

Starkey’s original intention had been to lay the oak floor using antique 17th century beams, but was dissuaded by concerns about splintering and combustibility. Modern oak was used instead and “aged” to create the same effect, which extends throughout Luna and grounds the entire design.

The floor, it should be noted, is also an absolute pleasure to walk on. One of the quirkier design flourishes involves the main deck guest corridor on Luna , with its arched separations, which not only add visual interest to an otherwise straight corridor but also serve to hide watertight bulkhead divisions.

Six years on and Starkey’s interior is still pristine, thanks to an owner with a meticulous eye for imperfections and a crew dedicated to making sure there aren’t any. Some updating was done in Luna ’s refit period, including the addition of new fabrics in the corridors and updates to all cabins, but the soul of Starkey’s design is very much intact.

And while the owner gets the pick of those cabins, with its huge views and access to a private terrace forward, it’s the guests that get the easiest access to Luna ’s headline feature, through the guest corridor on the main deck that leads straight out on to the aft deck. It’s a proper playground and perfect for the family’s children to run around, in complete safety.

A new raised section of this deck, just aft of the pool, was added in Luna’s refit and helps create distinction on the massive platform. The area can be tented and is a great spot for “tea and fruit in the afternoon”, says the rep.

Throughout Luna ’s 14-month refit, around 130 jobs were completed, ranging from the tiny (the installation of new wine fridges) to the tricky (the separation of the ballast tank system) but, taken as a whole, they have managed to improve on a classic. Until now few people have ever seen inside Luna and, as for being featured in a magazine, forget it. But finally here’s proof of her pedigree — Luna has risen. 

First published in the November 2016 edition of BOAT International

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Roman Abramovich upsets the Venetians as he blocks the view

Rock stars tethered their jet skis to the back of it during the film festival in Cannes, its clean lines have impressed quayside onlookers in Antibes, and England footballer Frank Lampard is reportedly set to propose to his television presenter girlfriend on board.

There can be no doubt that Roman Abramovich's enormous yacht Luna is enjoying the spotlight this summer as it tours the Mediterranean. But the citizens of Venice, a city more familiar than most with extravagant displays of wealth down the centuries, are not impressed.

The Russian oligarch's £115m, 377ft behemoth moored unannounced last week at one of the city's most stunning lagoon locations, as Abramovich and his girlfriend, Dasha Zhukova, pitched up for the Venice Biennale .

Local residents, accustomed to stunning views over St Mark's Basin, found themselves staring straight at the twin helipads and bulletproof windows of the vessel, which dwarfs all rival yachts at what has become an annual reunion of some of the most expensive private vessels in the world.

First to complain was Venice's mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, who is threatening a new tax on vessels such as the Luna. "The boats are getting too big and blocking the view," he said. "These yachts are showing up to see Venice for free, but St Mark's Basin is being turned into a motorway and we have to start limiting the traffic."

Marco Paolini, co-owner of the Caffè Florian on St Mark's Square, whose artsy customers launched the Biennale in 1895, condemned the "idiotic" presence of Abramovich's boat. "There are so many beautiful places here, why do these people have to bring their houses with them?" he said.

Complete with a covered pool, massive communications tower and a crew of 40, Luna is just one vessel in what has been dubbed Abramovich's "navy" of mega-yachts. Now moored at the Riva dei Sette Martiri, close to the Biennale Gardens, local bloggers have joked it could be mistaken for one of the more abstract installations at the show.

Abramovich, 44, has not been glimpsed amid the uproar. But Zhukova, 29, a noted party-thrower, has made the Luna the place to be seen for the critics, buyers and artists currently thronging Venice.

Elton John and Courtney Love were among the VIP crowd ducking in and out of the 89 national pavilions last week, with the longest queues at the British section, which has been given a makeover by installation artist Mike Nelson.

The boat, though unloved by locals who find themselves living temporarily in its shadow, has proved a celebrity magnet this summer, hosting singers Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale at Cannes after Madonna's visit last summer. Reports have also suggested that Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, could lend Luna to Lampard so he can propose to Christine Bleakley of ITV's Daybreak .

Severino Rigo, a retired IBM engineer who lives on the Riva dei Sette Martiri, said: "The real eyesores are the security barriers the crews erect where they dock, which extend out two to three metres across the pavement."

"I do not recall ever seeing such a large yacht as Abramovich's moored so close to the Biennale," said Enrico Tantucci, who is covering the event for local newspaper La Nuova Venezia . "It's like waking up in the morning to find someone has built an office block where the water used to be – no wonder locals have been complaining."

Zhukova's latest artistic project is also unlikely to endear her to Venetians. Many of the city's residents are embroiled in a battle to rid the city of the huge advertising hoardings that have been covering historic palazzi while they undergo restoration. The Coca-Cola billboard which engulfed the Bridge of Sighs and helped to spark the controversy is close to where the Luna is docked.

Zhukova has reportedly asked around 60 artists to create fake 15-second adverts which will be shown on a huge jumbotron TV screen, mounted on a barge sailing up and down the Grand Canal.

Zhukova has said she wants to open a debate about the anti-ad campaign, given that proceeds from the billboards are being used to pay for the vital restoration of Venice's palazzi.

The arrival of the mega-yachts has also exacerbated tensions over the rapidly growing number of cruise ships which steam past St Mark's and down the Giudecca canal before dropping off thousands of passengers who "just have time to eat a frozen lasagna and look for a place to pee", according to one of the signatories to the growing Facebook campaign to stop the 50ft-tall cruisers they claim shake the foundations of Venice's ancient buildings.

Rigo said that the hundreds of cruise ships now filing past his window were an even bigger problem than the mega-yachts. "After all, the private boats represent high-quality tourism," he said.

Not everyone is so negative. Abramovich's huge wealth has become a crucial asset to the Biennale which, held every two years, has become the world's most important contemporary art event. His funding has prompted new competitions and collections. Franca Coin, president of the Venice Foundation, said residents should be grateful to Abramovich and Zhukova for patronising the arts. "One more yacht in Venice is a lesser evil," she told Corriere della Sera .

Zhukova, the daughter of a Russian tycoon, has made a substantial impact in the art world, successfully opening Moscow's first modern art gallery in a former bus depot, while helping her boyfriend in plans for a $400m arts complex on an island he is leasing in St Petersburg.

But for Rigo and his neighbours, support for the arts only partly compensates for the blight of so many gleaming trophies of the super-rich 20 metres from his front door: "The vessels only stay a few days, but I'd rather see the beautiful view from my window, and the tourists don't know what they're missing."

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114.2m  /  374'8 | lloyd werft | 2010 / 2016.

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Abramovich angers Venetians with superyacht Luna

377ft superyacht Luna is ruining the views over St Mark's Basin, claim angry Venetians

Reports surfaced on the weekend that Roman Abramovich , the billionaire owner of Chelsea FC , has been upsetting Venetians by parking his enormous 377ft superyacht Luna in St Mark’s Basin, ruining views over the water for locals.

The Russian oligarch and his girlfriend, Dasha Zhukova , arrived in the city last week for the Venice Biennale , run every two years and one of the leading contemporary art festivals in the world. But instead of being welcomed with open arms, Abramovich and his party have been the subject of some negative press.

The city’s mayor, Giorgio Orsoni , was reported by the Guardian as saying: “The boats are getting too big and blocking the view. These yachts are showing up to Venice for free, but St Mark’s Basin is being turned into a motorway and we have to start limiting the traffic.” Orsoni is now said to be considering a tax on visiting vessels like Luna .

Meanwhile, local businessman Marco Paolini called the yacht’s presence “idiotic”. “There are so many beautiful places here, why do these people have to bring their houses with them?” he told the newspaper.

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Perhaps unfairly, Luna , which reputedly cost £115 million to build, has become the focus of a wider debate about the increasing amounts of big ship traffic in the already bustling waterways of Venice.

A popular cruise destination , the city saw the arrival of more than 1.6 million cruise passengers last year. When the big ships travel slowly through the city on their way to the main passenger terminal, windows are said to shake and foundations groan.

But however much they complain about the presence of these big boats, the locals can be thankful for one thing – at least Abramovich didn’t turn up with his other boat, Eclips e , which dwarfs Luna at a whopping 536ft.

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stuart hughes Guest

Hi, I'm looking for design info on Abramovich's yacht Luna and I'm hoping someone on this forum would be able to help me. A few years ago I painted this mural of William Morris throwing Luna into the Venice lagoon, for Jeremy Deller at the Venice Biennale. At the time I tried unsuccessfully to find out how Luna looks below the water line...in the end I guessed it. I've been asked to repaint the mural as part of a William Morris exhibition and this time I would really like to get the yacht looking right. So I need to know how much of the hull is below the water line, whether the bottom of the boat hull is straight or curves narrower towards the rear and whether it has a bulbous bow below the water line. I don't need exact info, but just general (if that makes sense!)...I have emailed the yacht builders but had no reply. If anyone here can give me any info I'd be very grateful Cheers Stuart

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bernd1972 Senior Member

You might want to contact Frank Neubelt...

Focal New Member

Best I could do for you. I don't think it's possible to make a pic of the side profile in a dry dock.

Rodger Senior Member

Yacht Luna Here is a picture I took July 10/12 in Lake Ontario off the Welland Canal. If you go to Forums Welland Canal page three is more pictures plus a video.

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1997 | Luna formerly Liberty

Length | 52 m / 171 ft

S/Y 52m LUNA formerly Liberty

Project description.

Perini design ingenuity at the utmost, S/Y Luna was truly unique for her time – and arguably still remains so today. Three decks in a volume with barely a superstructure above deck. Outdoor dining and lounge area in a huge Forward Cockpit. And true privacy for Owner and Guests with crew access from the transom to the crew quarters. An existing Perini Owner appreciated the unique potential, commissioning the Family’s second Liberty – with rich cherry interiors adorned with magnificent antique furniture to contrast her casual tone. One of the most successful charter yachts of her time – and inspiration for another sailing family who would build the 56m Salute following their charters aboard Liberty.

1998 The ShowBoats Award finalist for the Best Sailing Yacht over 36m

1998 The ShowBoats Award finalistfor the Most Innovative Sailing Yacht of the Year

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Here Comes the WiderCat 92

• By Yachting Staff
• May 22, 2024

Attendees at the upcoming Venice Boat Show in Italy will get a preview of the WiderCat 92 , which is scheduled to make its official world debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September.

The WiderCat 92 is a fiberglass collaboration between Luca Dini Design and Centro Stile Wider. The model marks the first in a series of catamarans that are expected to come from the shipyard as part of new leadership by Marcello Maggi, president of W-Fin Sarl, the holding company that owns 100 percent of Wider’s capital.

Accommodations aboard the WiderCat 92 include two VIP staterooms and one double-berth guest stateroom, in addition to an owner’s suite that occupies almost half of the main deck.

Propulsion is hybrid, and Wider partnered with the Italian company Applied to use its Future Marine maritime navigation and control software. The system integrates real-time 3D visualizations to monitor and control onboard systems.

“The WiderCat 92 is a testament to Wider’s pioneering vision and construction expertise,” Maggi stated in a press release. “Today, as in the past, Wider approaches the yachting market with ambition and the desire to continuously push the boundaries of technological innovation.”

Additional features include a tender garage that transforms into a beach club, and folding bulkheads that expand the beach club space. Following the Venice Boat Show, Wider plans to release a four-episode web series about the creation of these features and more.

The Venice Boat Show is scheduled to take place from May 29 through June 2—and the shipyard says the choice of the city for the catamaran’s debut is not coincidental. Venice is also home to the Wider Superyacht Hub, where construction is underway on the 236-foot Moonflower 72, developed in collaboration with Nauta Design.

Additionally, Wider is building more units of the WiderCat 92 at its new facility in Fano, called the Wider Vision Hub.

How tasty will Wider’s stand be at the Venice Boat Show? Good question. Show-goers will have the unusual opportunity to taste what the yard calls “gelato infused with the distinct flavor of Wider,” made by TooA to demonstrate the fusion of tradition and technology. The builder’s stand at the Venice Boat Show will also showcase Talenti furnishings, and the WiderCat 92 on display will show off customized versions of the Seabob F5S as well as SipaBoards Neo Silver Drive, the first electric SUP by Wider.

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A Russian Oligarch’s $500 Million Yacht Is in the Middle of Britain’s Costliest Divorce

By David Segal

• June 6, 2018

LONDON — With a spa, a swimming pool, two heliports and room for 18 guests, the Luna is more like a floating luxury villa than a yacht. A crew of 50 keep all nine decks in pristine shape. The lifeboats cost $4 million apiece. Gleaming engines propel the vessel at a maximum speed of 22 knots.

But for now, the Luna isn’t moving. It sits in a dry dock in Dubai, the most fought-over prize in what has been called Britain’s most expensive divorce.

In December 2016, a High Court judge ordered Farkhad Akhmedov, a Russian billionaire who has owned a home in England since the ’90s, to pay the equivalent of $646 million to his ex-wife, Tatiana Akhmedova. He refused, arguing that the couple had been divorced in Russia more than a decade ago.

Unconvinced and unable to enforce his ruling, the judge in April ordered Mr. Akhmedov to hand over the yacht , valued at roughly $500 million, to his ex-wife. It has since been impounded by authorities in Dubai, where it had turned up for maintenance.

For more than a decade, Russian oligarchs have been parking their families and some chunk of their net worth in England. A deal was implied: The oligarchs got a haven from the pitiless realities of Putin-era Russia, and Britain got an influx of very rich people.

Now some oligarchs are learning that life here has hazards of its own. That goes even for nonresidents like Mr. Akhmedov, who never became a British citizen. Eager to keep British tax collectors away from his money, he limited the number of days he stayed in England to a maximum of 180 a year. (More recently, the number was reduced to 90 days.)

In January, he appeared on the “Putin List,” an inventory of business and political elites in Russia, published by the Trump administration. Seven oligarchs — though not Mr. Akhmedov — have since been subject to sanctions that prevent them from conducting business in the United States.

Even the Luna, the ultimate in high-end joy rides, is customized for a man anticipating trouble. It has a missile detection system, an anti-drone system, bulletproof windows and bombproof doors.

None of these features, however, have shielded Mr. Akhmedov from the British justice system, despite the exhaustive efforts of his legal and accounting team. Before arriving in the Middle East, the vessel had been on an epic journey, though one not measured in nautical miles.

As the nine-figure settlement was gaveled into divorce court history, Mr. Akhmedov began what the judge called a “campaign” to hide his assets “in a web of offshore companies.” Nothing demonstrates the breadth and ingenuity of that web like the Luna. Starting in November 2016, the yacht went on a whirlwind voyage, all of it on paper, in a feat of asset protection and financial engineering so elaborate that the judge diagramed it in an April ruling.

Initially, the seizure of the yacht in Dubai sounded like a setback for Mr. Akhmedov. Then, he and lawyers for the family trust that technically owns the Luna filed a claim — still pending — arguing that the fate of the yacht should be decided by a local court in Dubai, using Islamic law, known as Shariah.

Legal experts say Mr. Akhmedov has calculated that his odds of prevailing are better in a Shariah court, especially given that his ex-wife is a Christian who has acknowledged infidelity in their marriage. Stories in British tabloids have lately emphasized that Mr. Akhmedov is a practicing Muslim.

That is news to Ms. Akhmedova. In her first-ever interview, which took place recently in the office of a public relations firm, she said she had never seen her ex-husband kneeling on a prayer rug or going to a mosque, other than at a tourist site.

“Apparently because he was born in Azerbaijan, he’s a Muslim,” she said, her eyes widening with disbelief. (A spokesman for Mr. Akhmedov disputed Ms. Akhmedova’s characterization, saying that Mr. Akhmedov “has always been a devout and practicing Muslim.”)

A sunny woman with a mild Russian accent, Ms. Akhmedova wore ripped denim jeans, a batch of string bracelets and a T-shirt that read “Free as a Butterfly.” She said she was reluctant to speak publicly about her divorce, because everything about it is painful, including the recent media coverage in Britain, which has made much of allegations of infidelity leveled by both sides.

She’s also startled by Mr. Akhmedov’s campaign to keep her from pocketing one cent of his $1.4 billion fortune, most of which he earned selling his stake in a Siberian energy company called Northgas. Contrary to popular assumptions, she said, she needs the money. She is living off a lump sum provided to her by Burford Capital, a litigation finance firm, which is helping to fund the legal efforts and will take a percentage of any results.

“I don’t want to play the victim, because it’s not my nature,” she said. “But I have to defend myself.”

Ms. Akhmedova said she had always wanted to settle out of court, quietly and for far less than she was awarded. She still speaks fondly of the years she spent with her ex-husband, whom she says she met in Moscow in 1989, when she was 17. He was nearly twice her age.

“He was wearing a suit,” she said. “He struck me as a very proper gentleman.”

The two married in 1993 and moved to London. He started off in the fur business, selling sable skins on the London Commodity Exchange. He later pivoted to the natural gas sector and, in 2012, sold his 49 percent stake in Northgas for a reported $1.4 billion.

Over the years, he acquired a summer house in the south of France, two helicopters, vintage cars, fine art — by Rothko, Warhol and others — and a $26 million home in an upscale county outside London.

“We went from flying Aeroflot to British Airways to chartered flights,” said Ms. Akhmedova. Later, they flew on their own $50 million private jet.

During the years that Mr. Akhmedov amassed his wealth, the couple regularly toggled between hostilities and opulent cease-fires. She said she filed for divorce a second time in 2013 — she had rescinded the first petition a decade earlier — when one of her ex-husband’s paramours gave birth to a child.

They nonetheless tried another détente. That same year, Mr. Akhmedov bought more than $500,000 worth of jewelry for his wife, paid expenses for holidays and gave her access to his helicopters and credit cards, according to the judge overseeing the divorce. In 2014, Mr. Akhmedov acquired the Luna, which he purchased from Roman Abramovich , a friend and fellow oligarch. (Mr. Abramovich has had his own troubles with Britain recently, as the country has cracked down on a type of visa given to wealthy investors.)

“It would take four years to build a boat like that,” said Ms. Akhmedova, who helped arrange the sale. “So we thought, why not ask our friend? He’s got two boats, let’s ask him for one.”

Unfortunately, the change in behavior promised by her husband did not occur, she said. And once again, she pushed for divorce.

In 2003, Mr. Akhmedov had produced documents that purported to show that the couple had gotten a divorce from a Moscow court three years earlier. In his version of events, as explained by his spokesman, the marriage lasted a mere seven and a half years and was dissolved on the grounds of Ms. Akhmedova’s adultery. The subsequent time together — from 2000 to 2014 — the gifts and vacations? That was for the sake of the couple’s sons.

“To give them, as the children of divorced parents, the best possible experience of family life, my client also accompanied his ex-wife and children on occasional ‘family’ holidays,” said the spokesman, Ian Monk, in an email.

This narrative portrays Ms. Akhmedova as an opportunist, who pounced when her ex-husband had his billion-dollar payday, in 2012.

“Within a few days of the wealth being realized by my client’s sale of Northgas, Tatiana made her first approach for an English divorce,” Mr. Monk wrote. “My client says that is a second divorce.”

To underscore the point, Mr. Akhmedov refused to participate in the British divorce case, neither appearing in court nor sending a lawyer to the proceedings, which began in November 2015. He told the media that tensions between Britain and Russia would prevent him from getting a fair trial and that he regarded the case as political, part of Britain’s efforts to seize assets from well-off Russians.

Judge Charles Haddon-Cave came to different conclusions. He ruled that the 2000 Russian divorce documents were “forged.” Persuaded by Ms. Akhmedova’s testimony, he concluded that the couple had “remained married in all senses of the word,” until 2013.

Two days before the start of the trial, in November 2016, lawyers and accountants took the helm of the Luna and shuffled it to a handful of companies controlled by Mr. Akhmedov and his allies, in the Isle of Man, Panama and Liechtenstein. It eventually landed in a newly created family trust called Straight, which Judge Haddon-Cave wryly described in a ruling as “the antithesis of its name.”

“In my judgment, it is clear that Straight is simply another ‘cipher,’” he wrote, designed by Mr. Akhmedov “to evade enforcement.”

A few months after the Luna arrived in Dubai for maintenance, the Dubai International Financial Center Courts — which conducts business in English and uses English common law — impounded the vessel.

Lawyers for Mr. Akhmedov and Straight have since filed an appeal with a Dubai entity called the Joint Judicial Tribunal, a seven-member committee created in 2016 and granted the power to decide which court has jurisdiction over a legal proceeding. Mr. Akhmedov contends that his dispute is a matrimonial one, which should be decided by a local Shariah court. He is not looking to relitigate the divorce, his spokesman said. He simply wants a judgment that says the British order to transfer ownership of the yacht cannot be enforced in Dubai.

Predicting how the tribunal will rule is not easy, in part because it has issued only a dozen or so decisions. What is clear is that if Ms. Akhmedova prevails, she will look for a buyer and sell the yacht. It is equally clear that Mr. Akhmedov will litigate this case until he wins or the vessel melts into decrepitude.

“He would rather see the Luna rot in the Dubai heat,” said Mr. Monk, “than see it handed over to Tatiana.”

Editors’ Note June 8, 2018: An earlier version of this articled failed to include a response to Ms. Akhmedova’s comments about her ex-husband’s Muslim faith. The article has been updated to include a response from his spokesman.

An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of one of the countries where Farkhad Akhmedov and his allies controlled companies. It is Liechtenstein, not Lichtenstein

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Two new candidates file for Venice Council Seat 3; incumbent seeks second term in Seat 4

Two candidates for seat 3 on city council are political newcomers and residents of the island of venice.

VENICE – Venice voters will choose between at least two new faces for Seat 3 on the City Council this November, with incumbent Helen Moore declining to seek a third term, while the Seat 4 incumbent, Vice Mayor Jim Boldt, plans to seek a second term on council. 

Moore has met one of two people who have filed to succeed her in Seat 3, Kevin Engelke, but not the other candidate, Patricia Ouellette.

While Engelke and Ouellette have not knowingly crossed paths yet either, both live on the island of Venice and both are members of the Venice Yacht Club.

Moore, a Realtor with Michael Saunders & Company, called the requirement to serve on Venice City Council “a heavy lift.”

“I have to work for a living. I feel like all I did is work and work and then go home and do homework (for council) to keep working,” she added.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Moore also pointed to an increased injection of party politics in council races as another disincentive to run for a third and final term.

“I don’t like the way the politics has changed things in recent years,” Moore said. “It’s bitter, divisive, it’s rude.”

Boldt still has unfinished business

Boldt, who filed to run in March, said there are still a few things he wants to see accomplished.

“We have projects in the works but they’re not finished,” Boldt said. “Everything from the Northeast Park to widening Laurel Road – one of the big ones I have concerns on is where the wages are of our public safety people.

“We fell to the bottom of the list in the county last year,” he added, referring to Venice Police earning the lowest wages among local law enforcement, prior to a contract renegotiation last December. “And we can’t let that happen again. We’re also short of people and that’s a grave concern to me; we need to start working that number back up where it belongs because as the city continues to grow – which it will – especially in Northeast Venice, we just don’t have an adequate number of police officers, EMTs, firemen.”

The city is also in the process of relocating Fire Station No. 2 out of the flood zone on Grove Street near Hatchett Creek, farther east on Venice Avenue, next door to the new police station.

Estate attorney hails from Michigan

Ouellette, an estate attorney and former accountant from Michigan, first found Venice because her law partner had a condominium in the area and they would stop and visit as part of a continuing education series at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning at the University of Miami.

In 2012, Ouellette and her husband David Remick, also an attorney, bought a condominium in the city. They moved to Venice three years ago.

Judy Cross, one of Ouellette's bridge partners at the yacht club and an original member of the local activist group Venice Thrives, urged her to run.

“There were a lot of things I was concerned about,” Ouellette said. "I’m not against development but … you want to make sure that it’s planned.”

Ouellette counts among her main concerns congestion and the stress growth puts in the infrastructure – including potable water.

“You really can't complain unless you’re willing to do something about it.”

Should she be elected, Ouellette said she is looking forward to working collegially with the other six board members.

“I firmly believe that if two opposing people come together and come to a compromise you’re going to get a better product rather than one person doing it,” Ouellette said.

Ouellette received her bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University and was working as a certified public accountant for a law firm when her boss suggested she go to law school.

She balanced her role as a CPA with pursuing a law degree at Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

She said her experience as both a CPA and attorney would be assets on City Council.

Insurance executive moved from New Jersey

Engelke and his wife Janet first visited Venice on the suggestion of friends who lived in Naples. They were driving north from there to catch a flight at Tampa International Airport, and took a detour to see downtown.

“We came across the Venice Avenue Bridge and we saw Venice Avenue – this was before it was updated – and we go, 'Wow, this is a really cool place,'” he said. “Because we only had an hour or so, we came back a couple months later and it was history.”

The Engelkes bought a garden apartment style condominium a few blocks from the beach on the island of Venice in the summer of 2019.

During the COVID-19 lockdown period in 2020, when his office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, closed, he opted to work remotely in Venice, since most of his job as a high risk insurance broker is handled on the phone.

When the lockdown was lifted, both Engelke and his wife were able to continue to work remotely.

Engelke and his wife have four adult daughters and six grandchildren.

Since moving to Venice, they have been active in Bayside Community Church, the Venice Newcomers Club and the Venice Yacht Club.

While Engelke has no formal city government involvement in Venice, he was board president of his local homeowners association in Medford, New Jersey. Associations there are not deed restricted and worked along with the township to help oversee maintenance of lakes and athletic fields.

He was also on the youth athletic association board that was responsible for increasing the number of athletic field options.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Grove City College in Pennsylvania and an MBA from Drexel University in Philadelphia.

“Right now the city is doing well,” said Engelke, who said his knowledge about working with people and budgets will be assets, should he be elected to the council. “It’s just part of my being, this type of thing, in terms of managing budgets, working with people to get a budget going.

“Running a pretty large HOA many years ago, being involved with business quite a bit, being part of a larger church up in New Jersey, on the budget committee and that type of thing – the issues are similar, some of the names and some of the departments are a little it different, but it’s just kind of part of me.”

Qualifying week set for August

Qualifying week for the 2024 election runs from noon, Aug. 19 to noon, Aug. 23, so there is time for other candidates to file for either Seats 3 or 4.

There is no primary race, so the candidate with the most votes will win the seat, even if they have less than 50% of the vote plus one.

That last happened in 2019, when Ron Feinsod won a three-way race for mayor with 40.1% of the vote.

Currently council members serve as many as three consecutive three-year terms and then must take a one-year hiatus before serving again. 

With the council poised to ask Venice voters to approve a charter change that would extend individual terms to four years, with a limit of two consecutive four year terms. That would effectively end odd-year elections, but the winners on Nov. 5 will not find out until that night whether they will be serving for three or four years based on the referendum.