Few other superyachts are as famous, iconic, and controversial as The Flying Fox. Technically a megayacht due to its size, this 2019 build by luxury shipyard Lurssen is officially back on the charter market, even though it's also – quite officially – sanctioned.
When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Beyonce made Lemonade out of her divorce drama, and she also famously chartered The Flying Fox for a full month in the summer of 2021, back when even industry pundits believed the mammoth luxury vessel was the property of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos.
At the time, The Flying Fox was available for $4 million a week, not including expenses, so it's easy to understand the kind of interest the association with Beyonce and her family prompted. Today, The Flying Fox's reputation is worlds away because of international sanctions against Russian oligarchs. It's a sanctioned asset as of June 2022, as announced at the time by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The owner of The Flying Fox isn't Bezos, as initially assumed, but Russian billionaire Dmitry Kamenschik. In true making-lemonade fashion, he's hoping for a comeback of this yachting legend and, if we're being real, for the chance to have it pay for itself when he's not using it. So, The Flying Fox is back on the charter market, this time with Bluewater, a premium charter agency based out of Dubai.
Photo: Lurssen
If a sanctioned vessel being offered for charter feels like 1 plus 1 equals 3, you're not entirely wrong. But it is possible, thanks to a legal loophole. Indeed, The Flying Fox is sanctioned, but only in the United States. Kamenschik isn't on any sanctions lists right now.
The reason The Flying Fox was sanctioned in the U.S. is previous management: it was offered for charter by Imperial Yachts, with the company described by U.S. authorities as a “complex support network to hide, move, and maintain [the] wealth and luxury assets” of President Putin and his associates. When Imperial Yachts was sanctioned, every vessel under its management was also designated.
Bluewater isn't oblivious to criticism of chartering a sanctioned vessel, even specifying on social media that the kind of "zero limits" premium experience The Flying Fox offers does come with some geo-political limits.
Photo: Lurssen
At the same time, though, "it's professional charter company responsibility to deliver first class charter on its fleet yachts irrespective of the nationality of the owner and in accordance with legislation, without prejudice."
No word yet on how much The Flying Fox is asking weekly in this context, but the experience will be comparable to what it offered before.
Delivered as a fully-custom build in 2019 by Lurssen, this megayacht offers accommodation for 22 guests and 55 crew members, including a personal chef and several massage specialists, packed garages, pools, a spa center, and the most luxurious interiors.
Thanks to its dual MTU 16V 1163 M84 engines that take it to a brisk top speed of 20 knots (23 mph or 37.4 kph), The Flying Fox is also particularly fast for its incredible size (136 meters/446 feet and more than 9,000 GT of interior volume). That helped when it was able to flee arrest in the Dominican Republic in 2022.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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