Dhe luxury yacht “Dilbar” in the port of Hamburg has been detained on the basis of EU sanctions due to the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine. The allegedly most expensive luxury yacht in the world, at more than 500 million euros, has been subject to a ban on disposal and can therefore “no longer be sold, rented or encumbered”, as a spokesman for the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) told the German Press Agency on Wednesday. NDR, WDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported.
At the beginning of March there had already been speculation that the ship, which was built in 2016 and was 156 meters long and 24 meters wide, would be confiscated, but this initially did not come true.
The problem was proof of ownership of the yacht. This is absolutely necessary in order to be able to chain such a ship. In the super yacht scene in particular, however, ships are often registered in tax havens via holding companies or letterbox companies in order to disguise the true owners. In the case of the “Dilbar”, the BKA was able to determine a nested offshore company construct and thus disclose the real ownership of the luxury yacht “Dilbar”, the spokesman said. The owner is the sister of oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is loyal to the Kremlin.
Yacht in Hamburg since January
Originally, Usmanov himself had been accepted as the owner. However, BKA investigations have revealed that Usmanov indirectly transferred assets to his sister Gulbakhor Ismailova back in 2017. Officially, Navis Marine Ltd. from the Cayman Islands owner of the “Dilbar”. However, its shareholder is the Cypriot holding company Almenor Holdings Ltd., which in turn is managed by the Swiss Pomerol Capital SA in trust for the benefit of “The Sisters Trust”.
The 156 meter long superyacht “Dilbar” has been in a dock at Blohm & Voss in the Port of Hamburg since January.
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Image: Reuters
“Since 2017, Alisher Usmanov is no longer a shareholder of this trust company, making his sister, Gulbakhor Ismailova, the sole beneficial owner of the yacht “Dilbar”,” says the EU sanctions list published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
According to the ship location service vesselfinder.com, the “Dilbar” has been in the Port of Hamburg since the beginning of January. Since then she has been pimped up in the dry dock at the Blohm+Voss shipyard. Since she is currently not ready to sail, she cannot leave the port.