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‘Mysterious’: the $700m superyacht in Italy some say belongs to Putin

Activists linked to Alexei Navalny believe the Scheherazade is owned by the Russian president

F or several months, the mysterious 140-metre-long, six-floor superyacht has towered over the smaller boats in the shipyard in Marina di Carrara, a town on Italy’s Tuscan coast, arousing chatter among its people over the identity of its wealthy owner.

“It’s the largest yacht I’ve ever seen here,” said Suzy Dimitrova, who owns a boat in the marina. “There are people cleaning it all the time. The last time I saw it leave [the shipyard] was last year. We’re all wondering who the owner is.”

The Scheherazade, said to be worth $700m (£528m), is under investigation by Italian authorities for potential links to sanctioned Russians. And activists working with the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are in no doubt that the yacht is owned by the Russian president Vladimir Putin .

On Monday, investigative journalist Maria Pevchikh and anti-corruption activist Georgy Alburov said that all crew members, obtained from a list dating December 2020, were Russian, apart from the captain. In a video published on YouTube, they claimed that some of the yacht’s staff worked for the Russia’s Federal Protective Service (FSO), an agency that manages security for high-ranking officials including Putin.

The activists, who have urged Italian authorities to seize the yacht, said this information proves it belongs to Putin. “They are Russian state employees, military personnel, and they regularly travel to Italy as a group to work on the mysterious yacht,” Pevchikh wrote on Twitter.

The interior of the vessel was described as being equipped with a spa, swimming pools, two helipads, a wood-burning fireplace and a pool table designed to tilt so as to reduce the impact of the waves.

In an address to the Italian parliament on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Italy to seize the yacht, adding that Putin and his wealthy supporters often holidayed in Italy and should have their assets blocked.

“Don’t be a resort for murderers,” he said. “Lock all their real estate, accounts and yachts – from the Scheherazade to the smallest ones.”

Putin’s last official visit to Italy was in 2019, at the invitation of the former prime minister, Giuseppe Conte. He also held talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican during the visit.

Marina di Carrara is close to Forte dei Marmi, a favourite holiday destination for Russian oligarchs, many of whom have bought villas and beach resorts.

In early March, Italian police seized a yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov, the richest man in Russia before being blacklisted by the European Union, and another owned by Gennady Timchenko, a billionaire with close ties to Putin , in the Ligurian port of Imperia.

The yacht can only be seen through a fence, where it is continuing to undergo a refit, scheduled to be completed next year, in a shipyard owned by The Italian Sea Group, a company that refits and builds luxury yachts.

The mystery over its owner gathered momentum in early March, when finance police in Carrara boarded the yacht as EU sanctions against Russian oligarchs kicked in over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine .

The police seized ownership documents from the yacht’s British captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce. At the time, US officials told the New York Times that they were also investigating whether the yacht belonged to Putin.

The Italian Sea Group said in a statement that it was continuing to work on the ship’s €6m (£5m) refit and maintenance despite the EU’s sanctions and that, according to documents in its possession, the vessel “is not attributable to the property of the Russian president Vladimir Putin”, and neither is it owned by a Russian on the sanction list.

A source at the finance police unit in Carrara said that they are now aware who the owner is and will soon make an announcement.

An investigation by La Stampa newspaper earlier this month had linked the vessel to Eduard Yurievich Khudainatov, the former president of the Russian state oil firm Rosneft, via a shell company registered in the Marshall Islands.

But Italian police are reportedly certain that Khudainatov is not the yacht’s real owner. “He seems to be a man connected with Putin’s inner circle but not so rich as to own a yacht like the Scheherazade,” said Jacopo Iacoboni, the journalist for La Stampa who carried out the investigation.

Until the Italian police reveal their findings, the people of Marina di Carrara continue to ponder, even if its presence causes concern. “Putin is the presumed owner, and looking at it now causes me a lot of anxiety because of what he is doing in Ukraine,” said Maria Cristina.

However, there are no signs of protests being planned. “There are always a lot of words, but little action here,” said Dimitrova.

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How This Superyacht Became an Overnight Geopolitical Mystery

By Jessica Cherner

The Russia sanctions are growing, seemingly by the hundreds, every day. And much of the world is watching with glee as oligarchs’ luxuries are being hunted down by international governments. If we’ve learned anything from movies like The Wolf of Wall Street, which is based on a true story, it’s that some of the world’s wealthiest enjoy flaunting their money. Not only do billionaires often spend their money on toys like European sports cars and diamond-encrusted watches, but they also want the world to know to whom these extremely rare possessions belong. 

After all, Jeff Bezos has been accumulating quite a bit of press as he works on dismantling a historic bridge in Rotterdam to sail his $500 million yacht onto the open sea. But some billionaires play their cards a bit closer to the chest. Case in point: the owner of a 459-foot superyacht docked in a Tuscan port. No one, not even the Italian police, can identify who the enormous vessel belongs to, which leads the world to believe it may be someone tied to one of the world’s most currently despised leaders: Vladimir Putin.

Scheherazade , which costs an estimated $700 million, boasts not one but two helicopter decks. 

Few believe that the floating mansion actually belongs to the Russian president—whose recent invasion of Ukraine is earning more sanctions than he, his country, and his billionaire friends thought imaginable—but many are more certain that it belongs to someone with ties to the top of the Russian government.

Since the devastating fate of Ukraine started to unfold, the United States, along with the UK and the European Union, have come together to track down the luxuries belonging to Putin’s friends, who are part of a massively growing list of billionaires facing punishing sanctions. That’s why this boat, one of the world’s largest and costliest, is such a point of interest.

International governments have been going after the luxurious belongings of Russian oligarchs since Putin and his government started getting slapped with sanctions two weeks ago, so assuming the yacht hiding out in Italy is one of Putin’s friend’s, things aren’t looking so good. However, no one can confirm just yet. The ship’s British captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, promised that Putin had never been on the boat and that it didn’t belong to him, but he didn’t confirm whether or not the yacht belonged to a Russian national.

Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Considering all of the amenities on the boat, dubbed Scheherazade , it’s not exactly an unfair guess to assume the owner is a Russian oligarch. Scheherazade , which costs an estimated $700 million, boasts not one but two helicopter decks, an indoor swimming pool with a retractable cover that transforms the pool into a dance floor, a fully equipped gym, and bathrooms complete with gold-plated fixtures. That’s a lot of sparkle even for the level of wealth associated with a purchase this big. However, the glamour isn’t the unusual part; the degree of intentional secrecy is.

The superyacht community does entertain a level of confidentiality—mostly for security purposes—but the Scheherazade is kept under so many wraps that it makes people believe something dubious must be going on when it comes to the owner’s identity. For instance, all of the contractors and crew members signed nondisclosure agreements, there’s a custom cover to hide the boat’s nameplate, and when Scheherazade arrived at the port, workers built a metal structure on the pier to keep passersby from seeing the yacht.

The 459-foot superyacht is currently docked in a Tuscan port.

This yacht, however, isn’t the only one catching people’s attention as of late. The world’s second-biggest yacht, called Eclipse , is owned by Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who owns the British soccer club, Chelsea. On Thursday, March 10, the UK government sanctioned Abramovich's assets.

As for Scheherazade , that mystery is still being investigated, and until the feds can figure out who the not-so-proud owner is, the behemoth on water will remain where it is, shrouded in a cloak of well-orchestrated secrecy.

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Scheherezade

Motor Yacht

Scheherezade (ex Project Lightning) was launched in 2019 by German-run shipbuilder Lurssen.

Although official details are yet to be confirmed, Scheherezade (ex Project Lightning) is believed to measure 140 metres and therefore place as the world's 12th largest yacht.

As can be expected, there is little we can tell our readers for certain about the specifications and details of this enormous vessel, except that she dons a typically striking naval architecture and exterior design.

She is also fitted with an exceptional two helipads, forward and aft, as can be viewed from the latest photos of her reveal.

Notably, Scheherezade (ex Project Lightning) was German giant Lurssen's 10th yacht in the world top 20 upon launch.

Lurssen has remained a family-run German shipyard since its inception in 1875 and is now in its fourth generation of private ownership. The company was founded by Friedrich Lurssen with a desire to create a leading shipyard in both quality and performance.

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International Edition

Italy seizes billion-dollar superyacht Scheherazade, reportedly linked to the Russian government

The Italian government says it has seized a luxury yacht worth almost a billion dollars, which is reportedly linked to the Russian government.

Key points:

• The 140-metre superyacht has been rumoured to have links to Russia's President, but its actual owner isn't publicly known
• Italian authorities have seized the vessel, which they say is linked to "prominent elements of the Russian government"
• Italy has asked the EU to introduce sanctions against the yacht's true owner

The 140-metre, six-deck Scheherazade had been undergoing repairs in the Italian port of Marina di Carrara since September, but recent activity at the dockside suggested the crew might be preparing to put the vessel to sea.

Italy's Finance Minister had adopted a decree to stop the superyacht from sailing away from the Tuscan port earlier this week, after an investigation of the vessel linked it to "prominent elements of the Russian government".

Police boarded the yacht late on Friday to execute the seizure order, the Italian government said.

The vessel has previously been linked by some media organisations to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While Italy's finance ministry has not named an owner, a source with direct knowledge of the investigation into the vessel told the Reuters news agency that Italian police believed the owner was Eduard Khudainatov, the former chief of Russian energy giant Rosneft, who is not currently a target of European Union sanctions.

Italy's finance ministry said the probe carried out by the country's financial police corps found "significant economic business links of the beneficial owner" of the Scheherazade as well to other subjects included in a list issued in 2014 as part of EU measures prompted by Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The ministry said the owner was not on any sanctions lists drawn up by Brussels following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, it said Rome had asked the EU to rectify this and had ordered the boat be seized pending a decision.

Based on the Italian investigation, minister Daniele Franco adopted a "freezing decree'' regarding the yacht, which flies the flag of the Cayman Islands and which had "long been under the attention of the authorities", a statement said.

It comes after the superyacht Amadea — believed to belong to sanctioned Russian oligarch Sulieman Kerimov — was  seized by Fijian authorities and put in the custody of the United States  earlier this week.

A few weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a speech to Italian politicians, urged Italy to continue freezing the assets of Russian oligarchs and officials. He cited the Scheherazade by name.

The luxury vessel has two helicopter pads and can host up to 18 guests and 40 crew.

Its owner has never been publicly identified, but there have been rumours that it belongs to Mr Putin or a member of his inner circle.

An organisation set up by imprisoned Putin critic Alexei Navalny released a report in March saying it had evidence that the boat belonged to Mr Putin.

It said many of its crew were drawn from Russia's Federal Protective Service (FSO), which is tasked with protecting the Russian President.

The Kremlin did not respond at the time to a request for comment on whether Mr Putin was the owner or whether members of the FSO were crew members.

Italy has sequestered villas and yachts from wealthy Russians, who regularly came to the country on holiday and had bought property in many prestigious locations.

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Putin-Linked Superyacht May Elude Sanctions, by Setting Sail

The Italian police are in a race to finish investigating a $700 million vessel thought to be the Russian president’s — before it’s out of their reach.

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By Gaia Pianigiani and Michael Forsythe

• May 4, 2022

MARINA DI CARRARA, Italy— The Italian police are in a race to finish investigating the ownership of a $700 million superyacht, which U.S. officials say is linked to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, before the vessel is put to sea and able to elude possible sanctions.

They may be running out of time.

After spending months dry-docked in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara, the 459-foot vessel, called the Scheherazade, was put into the water again on Tuesday. Crew members milled about topside as water slowly filled the dry dock. The British captain, who had previously spoken to reporters, did not respond to questions.

A former crew member said that the ship could be ready to sail immediately, but that first it was likely to undergo sea trials to check its equipment — common for a ship that has been under repair and, in this case, in port since September.

The Scheherazade has so far avoided the fate of some luxury yachts linked to powerful Russians, which have been seized in the effort by the European Union, Britain and the United States to go after the wealth of oligarchs and officials in Mr. Putin’s inner circle in response to the Ukraine invasion. In March, the Scheherazade’s captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, said the vessel’s owner — whom he didn’t identify — was not on any sanctions list. The Italian media reported that the owner was Eduard Khudainatov, an oil tycoon not currently under sanctions. He is a longtime associate of Igor Sechin, a close Putin ally and chairman of the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft, who is believed to be the owner of a superyacht seized in March.

Mr. Khudainatov’s ownership of the Scheherazade could not be independently verified. If indeed he is the owner, it may be only on paper. His name has also come up in the case of another superyacht, The Associated Press earlier reported: the Amadea , which shares an exterior designer, interior designer and builder with the Scheherazade. On Tuesday, Fiji’s highest court gave the United States permission to seize the $325 million Amadea, which has been held in the South Pacific nation since last month. According to an American official, the vessel’s owner is Suleiman A. Kerimov , a billionaire gold magnate from Russia who has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018; defense lawyers claim the true owner is Mr. Khudainatov, The Associated Press reported.

The former Scheherazade crew member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of a nondisclosure agreement that workers on the ship signed, had never heard of Mr. Khudainatov and said it was openly discussed onboard that the Scheherazade’s real owner was Mr. Putin. Soon after The Times first wrote about the Scheherazade in early March, U.S. officials said the yacht had ties to Mr. Putin, without offering specifics. A team of journalists working for the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny obtained a list of crew members and found that many of them were employees of the Russian agency that guards Mr. Putin.

A spokeswoman for Italy’s financial police, which has been leading the national and international inquiry into the Scheherazade’s ownership, said that, should the vessel leave before their investigation concluded, there would be nothing that authorities could do to stop it.

Three port workers said that the authorities appeared to be keeping an eye on the yacht, which has been adjacent to a police station and the Coast Guard while in dry dock; a police helicopter makes daily fly-bys, they said. The workers, who were not authorized to speak to the press, asked that their names not be disclosed.

A retired shipyard employee, Roberto Franchi, said that if the Scheherazade “is floating, it can move relatively quickly.”

It isn’t clear where the ship would go, but the movements of Russian-owned superyachts that have successfully dodged American, European Union or British sanctions offer some possibilities. Two vessels that belong to the billionaire Roman Abramovich, who faces British and E.U. sanctions, have been in Turkish waters for weeks. Others have loitered in the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. The Nord, owned by the billionaire Alexei Mordashov, went much farther afield, arriving at the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok at the end of March, according to data from Marine Traffic, which tracks vessels.

Those superyachts escaped the fate of the Amadea and a growing list of others, including Sailing Yacht A, owned by the billionaire Andrey Melnichenko and impounded by the Italian police in March; and the Crescent, sister ship of the Scheherazade, impounded in Spain. Reuters, citing a person in the Spanish police, reported that the Crescent was believed to belong to Mr. Sechin.

Here in Marina di Carrara, port workers and other people with access to the shipyard saw a flurry of activity by the Scheherazade’s crew: removing the white plastic screens that protected the decks during the repairs, cleaning the ship, loading supplies. Last week, they said, fuel trucks filled the vessel’s enormous tanks, while crew members carefully moved wrapped cases onboard.

As the sun set on Tuesday, a young couple had their aperitivo drinks at a bar overlooking the shipyard.

“Look, Putin’s yacht is still here,” Massimo Giovi, a 25-year old student, joked. “If that goes, it will change the skyline here.”

Julian Barnes contributed reporting.

Gaia Pianigiani is a reporter based in Italy for The New York Times.  More about Gaia Pianigiani

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

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SCHEHERAZADE yacht NOT for charter*

142m  /  465'11 | lurssen | 2020 / 2024.

Owner & Guests

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Special Features:

• Elevator for easy access between floors
• Extensive health and beauty center, including spa, beach club and beauty salon
• Recent refit in 2024
• Comfortable Movie Theatre
• DNV (Det Norske Veritas) classification

The 142m/465'11" motor yacht 'Scheherazade' was built by Lurssen in Germany at their Vegesack shipyard and she was delivered to her owner in June 2020. This luxury vessel's exterior design is the work of Espen Oeino and she was last refitted in 2024.

Guest Accommodation

Scheherazade has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 18 guests in 9 suites. She is also capable of carrying up to 40 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.

Onboard Comfort & Entertainment

Her features include a beauty salon, movie theatre, spa, elevator, underwater lights, beach club, gym and air conditioning.

Range & Performance

Scheherazade is built with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, with teak decks. Powered by twin diesel MTU (20V 1163 M84) 20-cylinder 8,837hp engines running at 1280rpm, she comfortably cruises at 15 knots, reaches a maximum speed of 20 knots. Scheherazade features at-anchor stabilizers providing exceptional comfort levels. Her water tanks store around 110,000 Litres of fresh water. She was built to DNV (Det Norske Veritas) classification society rules.

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Photos show the luxury mega yachts that belong to Russian oligarchs — some of whom have hidden their ships as the UK ramps up sanctions.

• Sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs threaten their luxury assets — including their mega yachts.
• Many countries have implemented sanctions targeting Putin and Russian oligarchs following Russia's attack on Ukraine.
• Insider compiled a photo list of some of the luxury vessels.

Russian billionaires' assets — including their megayachts — are in danger of being seized as countries continue to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden announced that the US will make a substantial effort to seize Russian oligarchs' assets.

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets," Biden said in his State of The Union address on March 1. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

Since the US is not in "armed conflict" with Russia it may be legally tricky to seize assets like yachts, Insider reported . 

"The threshold for seizing assets under sanctions is that the US has to be in armed conflict with the owner of the assets," Brian O'Toole, an economic sanctions expert, tweeted last Friday. "The idea of turning Russian corruption into Ukrainian assistance is lovely but this idea is illegal, period."

It can also be difficult to find out who the owners of these yachts are.

Offshore companies typically own the luxury vessels, but enough "public speculation" pointing to a Russian oligarch as an owner is likely "sufficient for a seizure," Insider reported . 

Many of the oligarchs moved their yachts to places where they can't be seized, such as the Maldives, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

Insider has compiled a list of photos with mega yachts linked to Russian oligarchs.

Galactica Super Nova

Amid sanctions and seizures targeting Russian billionaires, Galactica Super Nova — said to be linked to the CEO of Russian oil firm Lukoil — is no longer detectable via ship tracker site MarineTraffic , The Daily Beast reported Thursday. 

The superyacht — whose owner is named Vagit Alekperov — had just been in Montenegro last week, Insider reported .

Alekperov is not currently the target of any sanctions. 

The yacht is almost 230 feet long and can hold up to 12 guests and 16 crew members, according to the ship maker Heesen Yachts .

The ship also has a helicopter pad that can turn into an outdoor movie theatre, also according to the ship maker.

The Amore Vero

France seized Amore Vero, a 281-foot megayacht linked to oligarch and politician Igor Sechin, on March 3.

The yacht, Amore Vero, is estimated to have a value of $120 million . It has a swimming pool that doubles as a helicopter pad and a private deck for its owner, according to Oceana , the ship maker.

Per The Wall Street Journal , officials believe that Amore Vero is "owned by a company whose majority shareholder was Mr. Sechin," though the outlet does not provide the name of the company.

Sechin is the CEO of Rosneft, Russia's oil giant, and a former deputy prime minister. A known Putin ally , he was sanctioned by both the EU and the US before France seized his yacht last week .

Sechin was one of seven oligarchs sanctioned by the UK on Thursday. 

People in Russia have referred to Sechin as "Darth Vader" and "the scariest man on Earth," according to The Guardian .

Alisher Usmanov has been sanctioned by the EU, the US, the UK, and Switzerland. His boat remains in Germany, but the country says it hasn't seized it.

Usmanov's Dilbar is "is the largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage," according to Lürssen , the German ship's maker.

It's 512-foot long and weighs 15,917 tons. The ship has been docked in Germany for months undergoing a "refitting," but last week Forbes reported that it was unable to leave the dock.

Germany, however, has denied that it formally seized Dilbar.

Forbes said that "the German federal customs agency is the 'responsible enforcement authority' and would have to issue an export waiver for the yacht to leave, and that 'no yacht leaves port that is not allowed to do so.'" 

Still, multiple outlets reported that Usmanov has fired the crew on the Dilbar.

The Uzbekistan-born oligarch is a supporter of Putin. 

"I am proud that I know Putin, and the fact that everybody does not like him is not Putin's problem," Usmanov told Forbes  in a 2010 interview. 

Suleyman Kerimov was sanctioned by the US, and his son, Said Kerimov, owns ICE. The superyacht is worth is an estimated $170 million.

The Kerimov family owns the majority of Polyus Gold, Russia's biggest gold producer .

ICE was dubbed "Superyacht of the Year" in 2006 at the World Super Yacht Awards, according to Boat International . It is approximately 300 feet and has its own resident helicopter, according to Club Yacht .

Quantum Blue

Sergey Galitsky's ship, Quantum Blue, has an estimated value of $250 million and is last known to be docked in Monaco.

Galitsky is the founder of one of Russia's largest supermarket chains, Magnit.

His name is not currently on the list of sanctioned Russian oligarchs,

Though he also is not the target of any current sanctions, Vladimir Potanin's superyacht, Nirvana, is one of at least four ships docked in the Maldives .

Potanin is the Former First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and was a longtime trustee for the Guggenheim museum before stepping down on March 2, according to The New York Times . 

Nirvana is not Potanin's only superyacht, he also owns another named Barbara, according to Fortune .

Alexander Abramov's Titan, Alexei Mordashovis' Nord, and Oleg Deripaska's Clio are also located in the Maldives.

At 533 feet long, Roman Abramovich's Eclipse was the largest yacht on the globe until 2013 when the 590-foot Azzam overthrew it. 

Abramovich, once Russia's richest man , is the departing owner of Chelsea FC soccer club. He was sanctioned by the UK on Thursday along with six other oligarchs, Insider reported .

The luxury boat has a host of amenities, including two helicopter pads, a missile detection system, and a swimming pool more than 50 feet long. It also has space for up to 36 guests and 70 crew members, according to Yacht Harbour .

Insider previously reported that it is currently docked in the Caribbean .

Another yacht named Solaris is linked to Abramovich. The vessel, worth approximately $600 million, left Spain Tuesday after having been under repair since late 2021, Insider reported.

Solaris is 460 feet and can host a total of 36 guests, according to SuperYachtFan .

Tango, owned by the US-sanctioned Viktor Vekselberg, is currently located in Palma, Spain.

Tango can host up to 14 people and is 254 feet long, won the 2012 World Superyacht Awards, and has an estimated worth of $120 million, according to SuperYachtFan .

Vekselberg is a Ukrainian-born businessman who owns Renova, a Russian conglomerate, according to The Guardian .

He was one of nearly two dozen Russian oligarchs and officials that the US sanctioned on Friday.

The US Treasury Department claims that he has close ties with Putin, and has announced that assets such as his $90 million jet and his superyacht Tango have been frozen, Insider reported .

Graceful, a yacht reported to belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin, left Germany just before his invasion of Ukraine, Insider reported in early February.

—Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) February 9, 2022

Graceful is 270 feet long and has a saloon, gym, spa, library, and an indoor pool nearly 50 feet long that doubles as a dance floor.

Scheherazade

A mystery yacht remains untouched as the owner remains a mystery.

The owner of the 459-foot Scheherazade is suspected to be a Russian billionaire, though the owner was never publically identified, The New York Times reported .

Many people believe it belongs to Vladimir Putin, nicknaming the vessel "Putin's Yacht."

SuperYachtFan estimates the ship's value sits at $700 million.

Stella Maris

Stella Maris is linked to oil and gas tycoon Rashid Sardarov. It was last seen in Nice, France, according to The Washington Post .

The luxury vessel is priced at $75 million, is 237 feet long, and can hold up to 14 guests, per SuperYachtFan .

Sardarov is not being sanctioned. 

Sailing Yacht A

Sailing Yacht A is believed to belong to Andrey Melnichenko. The boat was seized by Spanish officials Saturday, Reuters reported .

The ship is more than 465 feet long and can hold up to 20 guests, according to SuperYachtFan . The website says that Sailing Yacht A also features an underwater observation area and has a value of more than $500 million.

Melnichenko is an EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire who works in coal and fertilizers, according to Forbes . The magazine also reported that he owns a second yacht, Motor Yacht A, which is similar to a submarine. 

Oligarch Gennady Timchenko's superyacht "Lena" was seized in the port of Sanremo, Italy on March 5, Reuters reported.

Timchenko is the owner of a private investment group, Volga Group and a shareholder of Bank Rossiya. The oligarch has been sanctioned by the EU, which describes him as a "long-time acquaintance of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin."

Timchenko was also sanctioned by the UK on February 22. 

The superyacht is valued at around 50 million euros ($54 million), Reuters reported. It has fold-down terraces, as well as an "owner's suite" which opens out onto the sea with "gull-wing doors," according to its manufacturer, Sanlorenzo.

Italian authorities also seized a $71 million super-yacht belonging to one of the wealthiest men in Russia , Alexei Mordashov. 

The 215-ft "Lady M" superyacht was seized in the Port of Imperia, northern Italy, a source confirmed to Reuters.

The yacht can accommodate up to six guests on and also has accommodation for four crew members, per the Superyacht Times .

The oligarch, who is the chairman of steel mining company, Severstal, has also been sanctioned by the EU, which says Mordashov is "benefiting from his links with Russian decision-makers." Mordashov has insisted he has "absolutely nothing to do" with Russia's attack on Ukraine. 

The Oligarch moved $1.3 billion worth of shares in travel company, TUI, to an offshore tax haven on the day he was hit by sanctions, Insider's Huileng Tan previously reported. 

He was also added to the UK government's sanctions list on March 15.

Some superyachts belonging to Russian billionaires are currently seeking refuge in the Maldives, including a yacht owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, Reuters reported.

The billionaire, who is also the founder of one of Russia's largest industrial groups, Basic Element, was added to the UK's sanctions list on March 10.

Also built by Lürssen, the superyacht - which is around 238 feet long - can accommodate 18 guests in nine cabins, per Superyacht Fan.

The superyacht Valerie - worth $140 million - was seized in Barcelona on Monday, Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said on La Sexta television, per Reuters.  

Sanchez did not confirm the owner of the yacht, but two sources confirmed to Reuters that it belonged to Sergei Chemezov, who is said to be a close ally of Putin.

The oligarch, who was previously a KGB spy with Putin in the former Soviet Union, recently said that Russia would emerge victorious from Western sanctions, Reuters previously reported . 

Chemezov, who is the CEO of Russian defense conglomerate Rostec was added to the US sanctions list on March 3. 

His yacht is 279 feet long and can accommodate 17 guests in eight suites, per Superyacht Fan.

Crescent, most likely owned by Igor Sechin but also rumored to belong to Putin, was the third yacht Spain seized as the West ramps up sanctions, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The superyacht is 443-feet long and costs an estimated $600 million, according to  SuperyachtFan, which also says the vessel hosts a retractable helicopter hangar and a large pool with a glass bottom.

Lady Anastasia

Lady Anastasia is owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Mikheyev but was seized by Spain on Tuesday, according to Reuters . 

The boat is almost 160 feet long and can hold up to 10 guests, according to Yacht Harbour .

Mikheyev, who was sanctioned by the EU, is the head of a helicopters division under Rostec, New York Mag reported .

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Ferretti Group announces its presence at Moscow Boat Show 2013

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Written by Zuzana Bednarova

The Ferretti Group, one of the world top companies specializing in the design, building and sale of motor yachts, with an amazing portfolio of eight of the most exclusive and prominent brands, is thrilled to announce its participation in the Moscow Boat Show 2013. From 12 to 17 March, two of the Group fleet’s most successful yachts will be presented as absolute premieres for the Russian market: motor yacht Ferretti 530, representing Ferretti Yachts , and the 27-foot Iseo superyacht tender by Riva .

Ferretti 530 Yacht to make her Russian premiere at Moscow Boat Show

This year’s Moscow Boat Show will also offer the Ferretti Group the opportunity to announce all yachting enthusiasts in Russia and Northern Eurasia a new important achievement in its international growth: the renewal of its exclusive dealership agreement for the Russian Federation with its partner Premium Yachts , one of the leading dealers operating in the boating sector in Russia , which will represent the Ferretti Yachts , Pershing , Itama , Bertram , Riva e Mochi Craft and Ferretti Custom Line brands.

The agreement – which was officially announced today during a press conference attended, among others, by Ferruccio Rossi (Ferretti Group’s CEO), Alexey Kurochkin (Premium Yachts’s President), and Stefano Campanelli (Sales Manager for the EMEA area for Ferretti Yachts, Pershing, Itama, Bertram, Riva, Mochi Craft and Ferretti Custom Line) – is part of Ferretti Group’s strategy for a further expansion on the European markets offering the best short/medium-term growth perspectives, also thanks to the financial soundness regained following the strategic partnership forged with the Weichai Group.

More specifically, the Russian boating market holds a great potential for the Ferretti Group’s development because of the rapid growth of average wealth among the population and an increasing interest for Made in Italy luxury goods, like Ferretti Group yachts.

Through the renewal of the agreement with Premium Yachts, the Group will further strengthen its highly selected distribution network – which currently includes approximately 60 dealers ensuring the best possible customer care in more than 80 countries worldwide – as well as its presence in the traditional EMEA ( Europe , Middle East , Africa ) area, one of the three macro-regions (besides the America and the Asia-Pacific) into which the Group’s sales structure is divided.

Moreover, in a medium/long-term perspective, the Ferretti Group is expecting an increasing interest on the Russian market not only for flying bridge yachts above 70’ in length, but also towards smaller crafts, both flybridge and open/coupé ones, which are particularly suitable for river cruising or pleasure boating in Russia’s large lakes. Consequently, the renewal of the dealership agreement with Premium Yachts also allows to look ahead at the future aiming to conquer new market segments where less competitors are currently present in terms of both products and geographic location.

The press conference, which was held today at the Lotte Hotel in Moscow, had also the objective of introducing attending journalists and yachting enthusiasts to the main new products launched by the Ferretti Group over the last few months, namely: motor yacht Ferretti 870 , Ferretti 690 yacht , and the project of the new flagship Ferretti 960 superyacht for the Ferretti Yachts brand; luxury yacht Pershing 82 ’ and superyacht Pershing 108’ New Edition for Pershing; Riva 63’ Virtus and the project of the new Riva flagship, 122’ Mythos yacht , as well as the entire range of the Itama, Bertram and Mochi Craft brands.

The yachts launched over the last few months by CRN – the Group’s brand specialising in the construction of steel and aluminium yachts between 40 and 90 metres – were also presented during the conference: the two superyachts: CRN superyacht Jade (60 metres long) and CRN mega yacht Chopi Chopi (80 metres long), the latter being one of the largest pleasure vessels ever built in Italy and the largest one ever built by the Ancona-based shipyard.

“The renewal of our dealership agreement with an important partner like Premium Yachts – which has worked on the Russian market for almost 10 years and can boast an outstanding product knowledge and an excellent local market penetration – and the presentation of the Group’s latest models are an integral part of our development strategy on the EMEA markets offering the best growth perspectives in the short-medium term,” stated Ferruccio Rossi, Ferretti Group’s CEO. “The Moscow Boat Show 2013, which has now reached its sixth edition, will extend over approximately 45,000 square metres this year and will be attended by more than 350 international boating companies. This Show represents an interesting business opportunity for us and an unmissable event in terms of visibility, since we are identifying a considerable growth potential in this area thanks to the timeless attractiveness of our products – true ambassadors of Made in Italy production all over the world”.

Please contact CharterWorld - the luxury yacht charter specialist - for more on superyacht news item "Ferretti Group announces its presence at Moscow Boat Show 2013".

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