World’s largest oligarch sailing yacht seized in Italy

Berlin Italian authorities have arrested another yacht attributed to a Russian billionaire. The ship with the name “Sailing Yacht A”, estimated at a value of around 530 million euros, is in the port of Trieste. Officials from the Italian financial police arrested it on Friday, the Ansa news agency reported.

Built by German shipyard Nobiskrug, the yacht is attributed to Russian coal billionaire Andrei Melnichenko, who was put on an EU sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Italian financial police arrested a suspected Russian oligarch yacht last week.

The “Sailing Yacht A” is almost 143 meters long and almost 25 meters wide. According to the trade journal “Boote exclusiv”, there are only a few yachts on the seven seas that are longer than the three-masted ship built by the Kiel shipyard German Naval Yards.

With a length of 180 meters, the “Azzam” built by Lürssen in Bremen currently tops the list, followed by the 163-meter-long “Eclipse”, which was built by Blohm+Voss in Hamburg. “I don’t think that a larger sailing yacht than the “A” will be built in the future,” says “Boote exclusiv” editor-in-chief Marcus Krall.

The more unusual the wishes, the higher the price. “There really aren’t any standards,” says Meyer. The “Sailing Yacht A”, for example, has a panorama lounge below the waterline and, in addition to dinghies, also has its own submarine.

When looking at the 200 longest motor yachts in the world, it is striking that a large number of them were built in Germany. “The Germans are far from building the most super yachts,” says Claus-Ehlert Meyer, Managing Director of the German Boat and Ship Builders’ Association.

Around 50 men and women work on the super yacht

However, the shipyards in this country built significantly larger luxury ships than the competition in the Netherlands or Italy. Because the German ship and boat builders have the necessary know-how. And: “There are no ready-made superyachts.”

The “Sailing Yacht A” built by the Rendsburg shipyard Nobiskrug at German Naval Yards in Kiel was designed by the designer Philippe Starck. Years ago, the Frenchman had already devised the motor yacht “A” for the Russian billionaire Melnitschenko.

And how much does it cost to operate a super yacht like the one from Kiel? “Operating costs of up to ten percent of the purchase price are incurred every year,” says Krall. The rumored 54 men and women crew are still relatively small compared to many a pure motor yacht.

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“The bottom line is that the owners of such yachts are only on the road for around four weeks a year.” The rest of the time the ships are in port or on the move to reach desired areas. “Because their owners usually don’t drive longer distances with them.”

Although the ships produce their own electricity and fresh water, the consumption is enormous, says Meyer. “You have to imagine a yacht like that in a small town, into which you pour diesel,” says the association’s managing director. However, the environmental impact of their yachts definitely played a major role for the owners: “Because that is a question of image.”

Illegal tropical timber is said to have been used for the ship

The image suffered after the Kiel public prosecutor’s office published that illegal tropical timber had been used to build the yacht. “We have commissioned an expert opinion and the result is clear,” said senior public prosecutor Axel Bieler.

It is teak that does not come from a plantation. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating unknown because of the violation of the timber trade security law, said Bieler.

The “Kieler Nachrichten” had previously reported on it. A spokesman for the shipyard told the German Press Agency: “We still have a great interest in the case being clarified”.

With agency material

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