Photo: steffen mayer for Superyachtblog
Vladimir Putin’s second largest superyacht, Graceful, has been spotted again after being able to elude all attention for months. It’s on the move again, possibly heading to St. Petersburg under a new name.
Graceful was delivered to “her closely-collaborating owner” in 2014. The Lurssen-owned Blohm + Voss built it as a custom project, and while it’s never been linked directly to Putin, international authorities believe he is the sole direct beneficiary. Putin is on sanctions lists since the start of the war in Ukraine, so Graceful could have been seized if it’d been caught.
But it never was. Days before Russian troops marched into Ukraine, Graceful fled the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, even though work on it was still underway. The vessel had been there for months, undergoing refits. It then stayed put for months in Russian-owned Kaliningrad, according to reports, but its actual position could no longer be seen on marine traffic sites, since it had turned off its AIS (automatic identification systems).
Forbes reports that whatever work was still being done on Graceful must’ve been completed, because it’s on the move again and has been spotted off the coast of Estonia. And it has a new name, too: Kosatka, which translates to Killer Whale in Russian.
Photos obtained by the media outlet and compared against existing photos of Graceful confirm that this is the same 270 footer (82 meters). An armed Russian Coast Guard vessel is traveling with Kosatka now, as it makes its way to St. Petersburg.
Graceful is the second largest vessel in Putin’s rumored fleet of luxury watercraft, which is estimated at over $680 million. Only Scheherazade is bigger and more expensive, and it’s also the only one to have been arrested by Italian authorities under current sanctions against Russian oligarchs (including Putin) whose billions are believed to be financing the war.
Since Graceful was a custom project for “a very confident person” who “knows what he likes and [is] not a slave to trends,” specifics on the vessel were never made public.
Among the few details released is that the superyacht offers accommodation for 12 guests and 14 crew, has a one-of-a-kind pool that becomes a dancefloor or a private movie theater, depending on the occasion, a helipad, a wellness area, and pool towel cabinets that double as vodka bars. According to the same media outlet, Graceful (now Kosatka) has a “wine cave” with a 400-bottle capacity inside the owner suite. That’s what you call the perfect place for a nightcap!
But it never was. Days before Russian troops marched into Ukraine, Graceful fled the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, even though work on it was still underway. The vessel had been there for months, undergoing refits. It then stayed put for months in Russian-owned Kaliningrad, according to reports, but its actual position could no longer be seen on marine traffic sites, since it had turned off its AIS (automatic identification systems).
Forbes reports that whatever work was still being done on Graceful must’ve been completed, because it’s on the move again and has been spotted off the coast of Estonia. And it has a new name, too: Kosatka, which translates to Killer Whale in Russian.
Photos obtained by the media outlet and compared against existing photos of Graceful confirm that this is the same 270 footer (82 meters). An armed Russian Coast Guard vessel is traveling with Kosatka now, as it makes its way to St. Petersburg.
Graceful is the second largest vessel in Putin’s rumored fleet of luxury watercraft, which is estimated at over $680 million. Only Scheherazade is bigger and more expensive, and it’s also the only one to have been arrested by Italian authorities under current sanctions against Russian oligarchs (including Putin) whose billions are believed to be financing the war.
Since Graceful was a custom project for “a very confident person” who “knows what he likes and [is] not a slave to trends,” specifics on the vessel were never made public.
Among the few details released is that the superyacht offers accommodation for 12 guests and 14 crew, has a one-of-a-kind pool that becomes a dancefloor or a private movie theater, depending on the occasion, a helipad, a wellness area, and pool towel cabinets that double as vodka bars. According to the same media outlet, Graceful (now Kosatka) has a “wine cave” with a 400-bottle capacity inside the owner suite. That’s what you call the perfect place for a nightcap!
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