Russian tycoons' yachts seized in France, Germany

Luxury boats are seen during the Monaco Yacht Show in the port of Monaco, on September 22, 2021. [Reuters, Eric Gaillard]

France and Germany have seized two superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs, taking concrete steps to hit Russia's super-rich under sanctions imposed on Moscow over Ukraine invasion.

Meanwhile, at least five superyachts owned by Russian billionaires were anchored or cruising in the Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation that has no extradition treaty with the US, ship tracking data showed.

The yachts arrived in the tropical archipelago off the coast of Sri Lanka after the imposition of the sanctions.

In France, customs seized the 88-metre "Amore Vero" in the French Riviera port of La Ciotat, the Finance ministry said, adding that the yacht belongs to a company whose main shareholder is Rosneft ROSN.MM chief Igor Sechin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Amore Vero arrived in La Ciotat on January 3, and was due to stay there until April 1 for repairs, the Bruno Le Maire led Finance Ministry said, adding the vessel was subject to the sanctions.

On Wednesday, customs officers said the yacht was "taking steps to sail off urgently, without the repair works being over", and that the officers therefore decided to seize it.

Rosneft, a Russian oil giant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the yacht's seizure.

Monaco-based Imperial Yachts told Reuters the yacht was owned by a firm called Kazimo, which had appointed Imperial Yachts as the boat's managers in 2018. "The individual you name is not connected with either Kazimo nor the yacht," a representative for Imperial Yachts told Reuters when asked about Sechin. The French Finance ministry did not return a request for comment.

In Germany, a $600 million luxury yacht owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov was seized in the port of Hamburg, Forbes reported.

The 512-foot (156-metre) yacht Dilbar had been undergoing a refit in the shipyards of Blohm + Voss, and the German government had frozen the asset and employees working on the ship did not appear for work on Wednesday.

A representative of Usmanov said he had no confirmation of the yacht's reported seizure. Germany's General Customs office said details of operational measures could not be made public.

A spokesperson for Blohm + Voss declined to comment on the Dilbar, saying only that all orders and projects of its owners, the Luerssen Group, and subsidiaries were treated in accordance with the legal situation.

At least five superyachts owned by Russian billionaires appeared to have found temporary haven in the Maldives, a major luxury holiday destination.

The superyacht Clio, owned by Oleg Deripaska, the founder of aluminium giant Rusal who was sanctioned by the US in 2018, was anchored off the Maldives capital Male on Wednesday, according to shipping database MarineTraffic.