Italy seizes luxury yacht linked to Putin
The Italian government has ordered the police to seize a luxury yacht linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters news agency reported. The ship Sheherazade has been in the port of Marina di Carrara since September. Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelenksy, in a speech to the Italian parliament last March, called for the yacht to be seized in order to put pressure on Putin and those around him.
According to the Italian Ministry of Finance, the owner of the ship has links with “prominent persons in the Russian government” and with persons on the European sanctions list. An organization set up by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny claimed in an investigative report published last March that it had evidence that Vladimir Putin himself is the owner of the Sheherazade.
The 140-meter superyacht is registered in the Cayman Islands and built by the German Lürssen Yachts. The New York Times previously wrote that it will be in both 2020 and 2021 sailed to the Russian city of Sochi, where Putin has his favorite country retreat. The six-storey Sheherazade is worth about 664 million euros and according to The Guardian “for privacy reasons” no outdoor poolwhile that is common for such yachts.
Ship with Russian oil banned from Amsterdam port leaves Dutch waters
The Sunny Liger, a ship with a cargo of Russian oil, left IJmuiden on Friday evening and set course for Gibraltar, according to shipping tracker. My Ship Tracking† The controversial ship had been anchored at the Zeesluis IJmuiden since last weekend, because Amsterdam port employees did not want to unload the cargo.
FNV Havens director Niek Stam says late Friday evening NRC not to know whether the ship is welcome in Gibraltar and whether it wants to try to unload the cargo there. He is going to send the port employees there information about the Sunny Liger and the origin of the oil.
The ship sails under the flag of Marshall Islands, but originates from the Russian port of Primorsk. The oil tanker was previously refused in Sweden. Since the Sunny Liger does not fly under the Russian flag, it is not subject to EU sanctions against Russia. But Stam already objected NRC to find it “tainted work” because of the war in Ukraine to unload Russian oil.
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The ship Sunny Liger at anchor near IJmuiden. Photo ANP/MARTENS MULTIMEDIA