The Business of Middle East Superyachting

Tag: sanctions

  • Hearings on Russian Superyachts in US and UK Courts Show Who’s Really Paying The Price

    Hearings on Russian Superyachts in US and UK Courts Show Who’s Really Paying The Price

    Cases: When the United States, United Kingdom, and other governments started to impose sanctions on Russian individuals in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – to pressure the Russian government to cease actions in Ukraine – it would have been hard to imagine that one asset would prove to have seminal…

  • Trial to Determine Owner of Seized Superyacht AMADEA Begins in U.S Court

    Trial to Determine Owner of Seized Superyacht AMADEA Begins in U.S Court

    Case: US v. M/Y Amadea, 23-cv-09304, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). Three years following the seizure of the 106-meter superyacht Amadea, in the wake of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the opening arguments of the evidentiary hearing to determine the true beneficial owner of the vessel took place last week….

  • M/Y Meridian A to Remain Seized by Spanish Authorities after EU Court Rejects Appeal For Annulment

    M/Y Meridian A to Remain Seized by Spanish Authorities after EU Court Rejects Appeal For Annulment

    Sulberg Services v Council (Case T-1084/23) The 85-meter motor yacht Meridian A to remain under arrest by Spanish Authorities after the EU Court rejected an appeal for annulment for  Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1767 of 13 September 2023. For the first time since  2022,  an update has been given on the status of M/Y Meridian A,…

  • Auction to sell Royal Romance called off; Yacht Potentially No Longer Under Ukrainian Ownership

    Auction to sell Royal Romance called off; Yacht Potentially No Longer Under Ukrainian Ownership

    Royal Romance, the 92-meter motor yacht, will no longer be auctioned off by the Asset Recovery and Management Agency ( ARMA) of Ukraine after a new decision made by the Croatian court canceled its prospective sale. Royal Romance, owned by sanctioned Ukrainian lawyer Viktor Medvedchuk, was seized in March 2022 as she was docked in…

  •  Sanctioned Superyacht Alfa Nero Sold to Undisclosed Buyer

     Sanctioned Superyacht Alfa Nero Sold to Undisclosed Buyer

    Alfa Nero, the 81-meter Oceanco-built superyacht, has been sold to a new unnamed owner for $40 million. The yacht was seized in 2022 in Falmouth Harbor, Antigua following the sanctioning of her owner, Andrey Guryev, by the U.S. government following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Following Alfa Nero’s seizure, the U.S. Treasury Department cleared the…

  • Sale of seized yacht AMADEA blocked by US. Court

    Sale of seized yacht AMADEA blocked by US. Court

    The US government, in possession of the seized luxury motor yacht AMADEA, was denied its request to obtain the right to sell the yacht by a New York court. Amadea, belonging to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov, was seized as it was docked in Fiji in May 2022, following the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia….

  • The Protracted Journey of Royal Romance

    The Protracted Journey of Royal Romance

    The superyacht industry continues to feel the effects 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, where countries including the US, EU, and UK imposed sanctions on Russia with the aim of pressuring individuals or entities to cease actions destabilizing Ukraine or threatening its territorial integrity. The damage was felt in different parts of the sector. From a…

  • ARMA in talks with Boathouse Auctions for the selling of seized motor yacht Royal Romance 

    ARMA in talks with Boathouse Auctions for the selling of seized motor yacht Royal Romance 

    Days after auction house Troostwijk Auctions announced they are no longer in talks withARMA to sell the seized motor yacht Royal Romance, a potential central agent has entered in it’s place. Boathouse Auctions, an online yacht auction marketplace based in the United States, has entered into the initial negotiations for the sale of the 92-meter…

  • Troostwijk Auctions no longer the central agent to seized motor yacht Royal Romance

    Troostwijk Auctions no longer the central agent to seized motor yacht Royal Romance

    After the Asset Recovery and Management Agency ( ARMA) of Ukraine confirmed the auction of the seized motoryacht ROYAL ROMANCE with Troostwijk Auctions, plans for the auction have fizzled out. In a statement shared with The Maritime Observer, the auction house states “Troostwijk will not be the auction platform to enable the sale. While we…

  • Dalston Projects Limited vs. The Secretary of State for Transport – Will the Supreme Court grant a “Permission to Appeal”?

    Dalston Projects Limited vs. The Secretary of State for Transport – Will the Supreme Court grant a “Permission to Appeal”?

    Phi, the 60-meter luxury motor yacht owned by Russian businessman Sergei Naumenko, has been the inadvertent face of the UK’s sanctions regime in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After the latest Court of Appeal ruling dismissing Naumenko’s challenge of the High Court ruling, Phi remains docked at London’s Canary Wharf as the Court…