US authorities have detained another superyacht of Russian oligarchs
The Amadea, a $300 million Fiji tax superyacht, arrived in Hawaii last month at the request of U.S. authorities confirming it belongs to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, according to natural resources ship-tracking Refinitiv Eikon.
The US Department of Justice Task Force KleptoCapture has focused on seizing yachts and other luxury items from Russian oligarchs in response to pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
The 106-metre (350-foot) yacht has left Fiji’s port of Lautoka in importance, after the Pacific island nation’s Supreme Court ruled that the yacht must leave its country as it is difficult for the government to bypass the contents. Refinitiv data that the ship docked at the port of Honolulu on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier, the ship arrived in Fiji, where it was detained on April 13, after an 18-day voyage from Mexico. FBI officials said in sworn messages that the ship turned off the alarm on February 24, almost immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to avoid capture. Their action in Ukraine is connected with a “special military operation”.
Lawyers for Amadea’s owner, Millemarin Investment Ltd, a Cayman Islands company, told a Fiji court that Amadea was not to Kerimov, another Russian oligarch who was not on trial, former Rosneft chief Eduard Khudainatov.
Representatives of the United Assemblies claim that Kerimov is the true owner of Amadea, while much of the evidence in the April 13 detention order is not available for publication in the media. Kerimovidal by US conviction in 2014 and 2018. He also went under arrest.
According to the Equasis public shipping database, the Amadea was previously flagged by the Cayman Islands. Eikon data measures that the yacht arrived in Hawaii under the US flag.