“Dilbar” is said to belong to oligarchs
Russian yacht not confiscated in Hamburg after all
3/3/2022, 5:28 p.m
There are reports worldwide that a luxury yacht has been confiscated in the port of Hamburg. But now it is clear that the “Dilbar”, which is said to belong to a Russian oligarch, has not been arrested. This is probably also due to the difficult clarification of ownership.
The “Dilbar” has been with the ship tracking service since the beginning of January vesselfinder.com according to the port of Hamburg. Built in 2016, 156 meters long and 24 meters wide, the allegedly most expensive luxury yacht in the world at almost 600 million euros is being refurbished at the Blohm+Voss shipyard. For Hamburgers, this is usually not worth mentioning, they are used to the super-rich having their toys upgraded or converted in the Hanseatic city.
However, things have changed since the Russians invaded Ukraine. Since then, the “Dilbar” has been at the center of global interest because the ship is associated with a Russian oligarch. This is on the sanctions list of the European Union. According to the EU statement, he actively supported close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian decision-makers “who are responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine. For him, this means that he is no longer allowed to enter the European Union and his assets can be frozen.
What sounds very simple in theory is, however, complicated in practice. In the super yacht scene in particular, ships are often registered in tax havens via holding companies or letterbox companies in order to disguise the true owners. However, it is precisely this proof that is necessary in order to be able to chain such a ship, according to customs officials responsible for ensuring security.
France goes further
The excitement is correspondingly great when Hamburg’s Economics Senator Michael Westhagemann rushes forward and claims about the port of Hamburg: “You can assume that from now on no more yachts will go out.” Westhagemann was referring to the suspension of the automatic transfer of goods to Russia, which is different from sanctions against oligarchs. Because that just means that goods going to or coming from Russia now have to be declared at customs.
But by then it was already too late. Speculation ran rampant worldwide that the first yacht belonging to Russian oligarchs had been confiscated in Germany. The Hamburg customs first went to the diving station, referred to the Federal Ministry of Economics, which for its part initially remained vague. “As far as the yachts are concerned, of course I can’t say anything about the situation here because it has to be examined in detail,” said a spokesman on Wednesday.
Today, Thursday, the Federal Ministry and the Hamburg Economic Authority will then provide clarity. “As far as we know, the yacht has not been confiscated,” says the spokeswoman for the Economic Authority. So far there has been no such official order. The same can be heard from the Federal Ministry. France is now ahead of Germany in seizing yachts owned by Russian oligarchs. During the night, French customs detained the yacht of a company whose main shareholder is said to be on the sanctions list. At the beginning of the customs control on the Mediterranean coast not far from Marseille, the ship wanted to leave the port, it said.