A luxury yacht belonging to a Russian oligarch has been seized in London, Britain’s crime agency (NCA) said on Tuesday.
A luxury yacht with swimming pool and wine cellar belonging to a Russian national has been seized in London in retaliation for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Britain’s Crime Agency (NCA) said on Tuesday. Once the identity of the owner was established – a Russian businessman whose name has not been revealed – the information was passed on to Transport Minister Grant Shapps, who on Tuesday ordered the “first seizure of a superyacht in British waters ever before,” according to an NCA statement.
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The minister posted a picture on Twitter of himself posing in front of the Phi, the third-largest yacht built by Dutch shipyards Royal Huisman, at 58 meters long, worth £38m (€45m). ).
“This government will continue to take strong action against anyone with connections to Putin’s regime,” he tweeted. The ship was seized in the port of Canary Wharf in London. If its owner is not specifically targeted by the British sanctions, taken against a thousand people and entities, British legislation allows the seizure of ships owned, controlled, chartered or operated by persons linked to Russia.
According to the British Crime Agency (NCA), the identity of the true owner of the ship was “deliberately well concealed”, but the investigators managed to trace it to him.
The boat was registered in St. Kitts and Nevis, a tax haven, and carried a Maltese flag ‘to hide its origins’, according to the NCA, which highlighted its ‘vital role’ in asset targeting suspects, the prosecution of illicit wealth enablers, and support for government partners in implementing the response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”