According to the secretary general of the Superyacht Builders Association, Theo Hooning, Russian tycoons play an integral role in the international luxury yacht industry. Some of the biggest and most lavish yachts are owned by these very rich Russians that have a few things in common: a ten figure net worth and an unquenchable thirst for luxury. Oligarchs like Roman Abramovich, Andrei Melchenko and Alisher Usmanov spend millions, and sometimes even more on these magnificent seafaring vessels. The 162 metre long yacht Eclipse is rumoured to have cost Abramovich as much as US$1.5 billion. Abramovich incidentally also owns the world’s longest super yacht, Azzam, which is 180 metres long.
Collecting Luxury Yachts Sounds Like Fun, Why Stop?
When Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade the Ukraine, the rest of the world was not impressed. Over the past few months the US and Europe responded to his incursions by placing economic sanctions on Russia. Dozens of Russian companies and political leaders have been blacklisted, making the Russian oligarch’s hobbies a little harder to pursue than usual. The prominent German shipyard Lurssen’s managing partner, Peter Lurssen, commented:: “Clearly there have been projects in the industry that haven’t materialized because of the situation.”
It Could Get Even More Serious
Not only do Russian tycoons have to rethink going to all the glitzy annual yachting events, they are facing a few more serious obstacles. The US Department of Homeland Security has started an active search campaign, looking for luxury goods like yachts, planes and mansions that belong to Russians facing constraints. Italy has already taken steps by freezing properties that belong to the Russian billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, one of the wealthy Russians blacklisted by the EU for his alliance with President Putin. These austere measures are probably why some rich Russians have started postponing final contracts for ship building. US President Barack Obama stated that the Russian government simply has to make peace to have sanctions lifted.