Placeholder when loading item promotions
The shipbuilder behind the world’s largest yacht describes her as “one of the most complex and challenging yachts ever built” with “entertainment and recreation spaces never before seen on such a vessel” and an interior of “rare and exclusive luxury materials”.
It features two helipads and the largest yacht pool ever built, and can accommodate 36 guests and 96 staff. And this week it was seized by German authorities for its links to a Russian oligarch.
Federal Police Germany called On Tuesday it was determined “through extensive investigations despite offshore concealment” that the yacht belongs to Gulbakhor Ismailova, sister of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
After police confirmed to Brussels that the ship’s owner had been sanctioned, the superyacht – named after Usmanov’s mother, Dilbar, according to the US Treasury Department – was seized. It takes place in the port of Hamburg in Germany.
Meanwhile, in Fiji, police are reportedly investigating a superyacht suspected of belonging to Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov, which docked in the Pacific island nation this week.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the yacht Dilmar seized in Germany is registered in the Cayman Islands and has a value of between 600 and 735 million US dollars with an estimated annual operating cost of 60 million US dollars. At 15,917 tons, she is the world’s largest yacht by interior volume, according to shipbuilder Lürssen, who touts its “classic profile with a light ivory hull and bronze accents.”
Usmanov is “known for being close [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, as well as Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council and former President and Prime Minister of Russia,” the Treasury Ministry said, claiming that his ties to the Kremlin “enrich him and enable his luxurious lifestyle.”
In the early days of the invasion, President Biden warned the Russian oligarchs: “We join our European allies in finding and seizing your yachts, your luxury apartments and your private jets.”
The US hunt for the vast fortunes of Russian oligarchs is encountering obstacles offshore
The United States said on March 3 that it had sanctioned Usmanov, claiming he was among the “key elites” who allowed Putin to wage his war against Ukraine. Experts from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe found in an investigative report released on Wednesday that Russia violated international humanitarian law by deliberately targeting civilians during its invasion of Ukraine. The United States and other nations have accused Russia of committing war crimes there, and Biden said Tuesday Putin was committing “genocide” in Ukraine.
Usmanov, 68, is the 86th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $19.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. According to Bloomberg, he has “huge holdings in multiple sectors” of Russia’s economy and internationally, the Treasury Ministry said, including a 49 percent stake in USM, a holding company that controls Russia’s largest iron ore producer.
A representative for Usmanov was not immediately available, and USM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the Fiji case, an official with the National Police Command and Control Center told Reuters that the captain of the ship that arrived Tuesday is being questioned about how it got to Fiji without clearing customs.
Kerimov has been sanctioned by the United States, Britain and the European Union, but questions about ownership of the luxury ship remain. Police have seized the superyacht called Amadea, a 348-foot vessel valued at $325 million, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The US embassy in Suva told the Fiji Times that it is “cooperating with the Fijian authorities on this matter” and “is committed to finding and seizing the assets of the oligarchs perpetrating the Russian Federation’s brutal, unprovoked war.” supported against Ukraine”.
Adela Suliman in London contributed to this report.