Photo: Lurssen
So much for fleeing to safety. Amadea, the spectacular megayacht owned by Russian gold king Suleiman Kerimov, is now trapped in Fiji, where local and U.S. authorities are trying to impound it.
Amadea is one of the newest and most spectacular builds from luxury shipyard Lurssen. At an estimated cost of $325 million, it is also a very expensive one, and the fact that it’s owned by Suleiman Kerimov makes it controversial as well. Kerimov, who has been subject of international sanctions before, in 2014 and 2018, is now on the sanctions list in the EU, U.S. and the UK, which means that all his possessions can be seized by local governments if not on friendly ground.
A friendly port is exactly what Kerimov sought for Amadea. Last month, the megayacht left Mexico and started on a Pacific Ocean crossing that was dubbed unusual by trackers and industry publications. Presumably, Kermov wanted to take the 348-foot (106-meter) five-decker to the Russian port of Vladivostok, where no international sanction could reach it. On the way there, it stopped in Fiji, where authorities detained the crew.
That was just the first step toward getting the vessel impounded, Reuters reports. Local and U.S. authorities are working together to establish the identity of Amadea’s owner (as most oligarchs’ yachts, this one too is registered in the Caymans), which would allow them to impound it. Meanwhile, Fiji’s director of public prosecutions, Christopher Pryde has filed an application with the High Court, asking that the “motor yacht Amadea be restrained from leaving Fijian waters until the finalization of an application to register a warrant to seize the property and that a US warrant to seize the Amadea be registered.” In other words, Amadea is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Soon after the crew was detained, a superyacht agent for Amadea denied to the media that the owner was Kerimov or, for that matter, anyone associated with President Vladimir Putin. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, and one of the responses of NATO country members and other nations has been to establish and enforce sanctions lists against oligarchs known for their ties with the Russian President.
If the ownership between the so-called gold king and the Lurssen megayacht is established, this will be among the biggest catches internationally, since the sanctions list went into effect.
A friendly port is exactly what Kerimov sought for Amadea. Last month, the megayacht left Mexico and started on a Pacific Ocean crossing that was dubbed unusual by trackers and industry publications. Presumably, Kermov wanted to take the 348-foot (106-meter) five-decker to the Russian port of Vladivostok, where no international sanction could reach it. On the way there, it stopped in Fiji, where authorities detained the crew.
That was just the first step toward getting the vessel impounded, Reuters reports. Local and U.S. authorities are working together to establish the identity of Amadea’s owner (as most oligarchs’ yachts, this one too is registered in the Caymans), which would allow them to impound it. Meanwhile, Fiji’s director of public prosecutions, Christopher Pryde has filed an application with the High Court, asking that the “motor yacht Amadea be restrained from leaving Fijian waters until the finalization of an application to register a warrant to seize the property and that a US warrant to seize the Amadea be registered.” In other words, Amadea is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Soon after the crew was detained, a superyacht agent for Amadea denied to the media that the owner was Kerimov or, for that matter, anyone associated with President Vladimir Putin. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, and one of the responses of NATO country members and other nations has been to establish and enforce sanctions lists against oligarchs known for their ties with the Russian President.
If the ownership between the so-called gold king and the Lurssen megayacht is established, this will be among the biggest catches internationally, since the sanctions list went into effect.
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