Confiscated Russian superyacht must leave Fiji by court ruling

The Fiji court’s ruling comes amid a legal controversy over the seizure super yacht Russian ownership is going on.

The US Department of Justice’s KleptoCapture task force has focused on seizing superyachts and other expensive possessions from owners. Russian tycoon to pressure President Vladimir Putin about Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

The 106 m (350 foot) Amadea docked in Fiji on April 13 after an 18-day journey from Mexico. Later, this ship was seized by the Fijian authorities after the Fiji Supreme Court announced a US seizure order in May related to this superyacht owned by Russian tycoon Suleiman Kerimov, who is on the sanctions list. US fines.

According to the FBI, the $300 million luxury vessel costs $25 to $30 million to operate a year, and the United States will pay to maintain the ship after it is seized.

The Russian-owned superyacht Amadea docked at Queens Wharf in Lautoka, Fiji on May 3, 2022. (Photo: Reuters)

Millemarin Investments, the official owner of the Armadea, has filed an appeal with the courts of Fiji.

The Fiji High Court ruled on June 7 that it was in the public interest to order the yacht “out of Fijian waters”, because the superyacht’s anchorage in Fiji had “made the Government of Fiji pay costly expenses”; the ship “entered Fijian waters without any permits and ostensibly to evade US seizure”.

The US accuses Russian tycoon Kerimov of being the real owner of the ship, while the ship’s lawyers have denied this and testified in court that it is owned by another Russian tycoon, Mr. Eduard. Khudainatov, the former director of Russian energy giant Rosneft, who is not on the sanctions list.

In May, another luxury yacht believed to be owned by Mr. Khudainatov worth about $700 million was seized by Italian police.

The ship’s attorney, Feizal Haniff, declined to comment on the ruling.

Mr Haniff said the Fiji courts had agreed that “issues related to alleged money laundering and ship ownership” should be decided in US courts.

“Amadea has been handed over to the US authorities and now it will leave Fiji,” he added.

The US embassy in Suva, the capital of Fiji, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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