Ask a Russian Oligarch's Superyacht crew anything...

Ask a Russian Oligarch's Superyacht crew anything...

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anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 22nd April 2022
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HocusPocus said:
The OP has sunk under the weight of the offshore shell companies, phoney charter agreements, discretionary asset protection trusts in Cook Islands or Nevis, option arrangements, bogus UBOs, split equity corporations, hybrid companies, protected cell companies, anstalts, bearer instruments, fiduciary deposits, ......all created with liberal sprinkling of NDAs by imaginative generously remunerated lawyers to shield the true ownership of Vladimir's floating play pen.
A lot to do!

Follow the money as always I guess?

HocusPocus

866 posts

100 months

Saturday 23rd April 2022
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digimeistter said:
HocusPocus said:
The OP has sunk under the weight of the offshore shell companies, phoney charter agreements, discretionary asset protection trusts in Cook Islands or Nevis, option arrangements, bogus UBOs, split equity corporations, hybrid companies, protected cell companies, anstalts, bearer instruments, fiduciary deposits, ......all created with liberal sprinkling of NDAs by imaginative generously remunerated lawyers to shield the true ownership of Vladimir's floating play pen.
A lot to do!

Follow the money as always I guess?
Absolutely. Oligarchs have lawyers who can make UBO identification disappear up its own arse using layers of complex corporations, debt instruments, contractual rights such as options or even life policies, trusts in APT jurisdictions etc, The best way to track true ownership is ignore structures and look where the money comes from.

That includes requiring banks who pay suppliers to give authorities the account KYC/AML data collected, including the UBO and source of funds data. Police should already know through STRs being submitted by banks and corporate service providers following sanction notices.

Government machines are slow and often lazy, but will grind their way through litigation when it suits them, especially when Oligarch boat seizures make politicians look like action heroes. Not a positive prognosis for our OP though....

Arnold Cunningham

3,758 posts

252 months

Saturday 23rd April 2022
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I think the governments have no clue what a liability all those super yachts are though without a crew maintaining them, let alone without an owner wanting them. What do they plan to do with all these superyachts now, where is the market for them?

Edited by Arnold Cunningham on Saturday 23 April 10:22

Biggus thingus

1,358 posts

43 months

Saturday 23rd April 2022
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Government auction?

Keeping my eyes peeled for a bargain

Blib

43,789 posts

196 months

Saturday 23rd April 2022
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Arnold Cunningham said:
I think the governments have no clue what a liability all those super yachts are though without a crew maintaining them, let alone without an owner wanting them. What do they plan to do with all these superyachts now, where is the market for them?

Edited by Arnold Cunningham on Saturday 23 April 10:22
I doubt that they give a monkey's.

sherman

13,060 posts

214 months

Saturday 23rd April 2022
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Blib said:
Arnold Cunningham said:
I think the governments have no clue what a liability all those super yachts are though without a crew maintaining them, let alone without an owner wanting them. What do they plan to do with all these superyachts now, where is the market for them?

Edited by Arnold Cunningham on Saturday 23 April 10:22
Scrap value will still be reasonably high if you strip out all the fancy fixtures and fittings first and sell them seperatly.

I doubt that they give a monkey's.

bristolracer

5,527 posts

148 months

Saturday 23rd April 2022
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Give them to the Ukrainians for target practice

sherman

13,060 posts

214 months

Saturday 23rd April 2022
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bristolracer said:
Give them to the Ukrainians for target practice
They are already quite capable of hitting large russian ships wink

HocusPocus

866 posts

100 months

Saturday 23rd April 2022
quotequote all
Arnold Cunningham said:
I think the governments have no clue what a liability all those super yachts are though without a crew maintaining them, let alone without an owner wanting them. What do they plan to do with all these superyachts now, where is the market for them?

Edited by Arnold Cunningham on Saturday 23 April 10:22
The effort put in by the Oligarchs to protest the boats are not theirs, and thus do not fall within sanctions, suggests they believe their toys are worth the fight.

Standard protocol. Seize and mothball, and allow service providers to charge top whack mooring, fuel, maintenance, skeleton crew etc. Any costs are simply added to the release money required at the end of hostilities, or a forced sale. So long as a distressed asset sale clears the sovereign debt balance, no-one will care except the Oligarch who has lost value after due process.

As the Egyptians demonstrated with the Evergrand, arresting a boat until financial demands are met is very effective.

2fast748

1,091 posts

194 months

Thursday 12th May 2022
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A bit of direct action from an Oligarch's crew:

https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/20...

eldar

21,614 posts

195 months

Wednesday 25th May 2022
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Any update from the OP? Not becoming a modern version of the Flying Dutchman, I hope.

AW111

9,455 posts

132 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
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PushedDover said:
Odd- Baird Maritime is fine in earnest, but hey ho.
"Baird Maritime, launched in 1978, is one of the world's premier maritime publishing houses.

The company produces the leading maritime new portal BairdMaritime.com, home of the world famous Work Boat World, Fishing Boat World, Ship World, Ausmarine, and Commercial Mariner sub-sites, and the industry-leading ship brokerage platforms WorkBoatWorld.com and ShipWorld.com."
I've worked for them in the past - forgot it entirely until I read this.

PushedDover

5,621 posts

52 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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https://gcaptain.com/russian-oligarchs-megayacht-l...

OP in Egypt?

Also a good little website - Interact with a tracker of yachts tied to sanctioned Russians
https://insights.spire.com/maritime/sanctioned-rus...

Newc

1,846 posts

181 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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Fiji not quite the safe haven it was thought to be:

https://www.cityam.com/us-successful-seizure-of-ru...


21TonyK

11,494 posts

208 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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Anyone know whats happened to Ocean Victory? I know it was in the Maldives but anything else?

Petrus1983

8,516 posts

161 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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Newc said:
Fiji not quite the safe haven it was thought to be:

https://www.cityam.com/us-successful-seizure-of-ru...
I can imagine Vladivostok marina is about to get quite busy. Although the number already seized across Europe is startling.

It will be interesting to see what happens to them all, and indeed, the industry overall. Companies like Lursen have done extremely well over the last decade - but now have ship yards full of projects they can’t complete - and unlikely to be paid for.

PushedDover

5,621 posts

52 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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ETA- better site: https://megayachtnews.com/2022/06/imperial-yachts-...

IMPERIAL YACHTS, SEVERAL SUPERYACHTS ADDED TO U.S. SANCTIONS LIST



"The US Treasury announced a new round of Russian sanctions Thursday aimed at further penalizing the country's elite following the invasion of Ukraine.

The latest sanctions include luxury yachting company Imperial Yachts, a brokerage led by Russian CEO Evgeniy Kochman that has provided management services to at least one yacht linked to a sanctioned Russian oligarch, the department alleges.

The designation comes a day after The New York Times published an investigation into the corporate benefactors of Russia's elite, whose immense wealth has fallen under international scrutiny in recent months.

At the heart of the investigation was Imperial Yachts, which describes itself as a "360-degree" maritime service that handles everything from yacht financing, design, and construction to management, maintenance, and marketing.

The company has been connected to superyachts linked to high-profile Russians including Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin, and Gennady Timchenko, according to the NYT report. All three individuals are sanctioned by the US.

In response to the sanctions, an Imperial Yachts spokesperson told Insider the company has been "targeted by numerous unfounded and inaccurate accusations following events that are unrelated to this family owned company and its services."

"The accusations made against us by the U.S. Government and in the press are false," the spokesperson said. "We will pursue all available legal remedies to resolve this matter promptly."

"Imperial Yachts conducts all its businesses in full compliance with laws and regulations in all jurisdictions in which we operate. We are not involved in our clients' financial affairs," the statement continued.

To describe the yachting company as "full service" is not an overstatement, as evidenced by court filings and emails obtained by the Times.

Company documents show records of highly specific guest preferences, such as coffee served in an Hermès mug, dates and berry bowls prepped for every meal, a "babyccino" with one teaspoon of espresso and steamed milk, and porridge with honey drizzled on top each morning.

Imperial Yacht's largest yacht currently available for charter, "Flying Fox," was also blocked by Thursday's sanctions. The Treasury additionally targeted multiple yachts with suspected links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Russia's elites, up to and including President Putin, rely on complex support networks to hide, move, and maintain their wealth and luxury assets," Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a press release Thursday.

"Today's action demonstrates that Treasury can and will go after those responsible for shielding and maintaining these ill-gotten interests," he continued.

Petrus1983

8,516 posts

161 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
Just a reminder for those interested eSysman is doing a really good job of reporting all of this - with the added bonus of actually seeing some of these gigantic vessels too -

https://youtube.com/c/eSysmanSuperYachts

normalbloke

7,401 posts

218 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
PushedDover said:
ETA- better site: https://megayachtnews.com/2022/06/imperial-yachts-...

IMPERIAL YACHTS, SEVERAL SUPERYACHTS ADDED TO U.S. SANCTIONS LIST



"The US Treasury announced a new round of Russian sanctions Thursday aimed at further penalizing the country's elite following the invasion of Ukraine.

The latest sanctions include luxury yachting company Imperial Yachts, a brokerage led by Russian CEO Evgeniy Kochman that has provided management services to at least one yacht linked to a sanctioned Russian oligarch, the department alleges.

The designation comes a day after The New York Times published an investigation into the corporate benefactors of Russia's elite, whose immense wealth has fallen under international scrutiny in recent months.

At the heart of the investigation was Imperial Yachts, which describes itself as a "360-degree" maritime service that handles everything from yacht financing, design, and construction to management, maintenance, and marketing.

The company has been connected to superyachts linked to high-profile Russians including Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin, and Gennady Timchenko, according to the NYT report. All three individuals are sanctioned by the US.

In response to the sanctions, an Imperial Yachts spokesperson told Insider the company has been "targeted by numerous unfounded and inaccurate accusations following events that are unrelated to this family owned company and its services."

"The accusations made against us by the U.S. Government and in the press are false," the spokesperson said. "We will pursue all available legal remedies to resolve this matter promptly."

"Imperial Yachts conducts all its businesses in full compliance with laws and regulations in all jurisdictions in which we operate. We are not involved in our clients' financial affairs," the statement continued.

To describe the yachting company as "full service" is not an overstatement, as evidenced by court filings and emails obtained by the Times.

Company documents show records of highly specific guest preferences, such as coffee served in an Hermès mug, dates and berry bowls prepped for every meal, a "babyccino" with one teaspoon of espresso and steamed milk, and porridge with honey drizzled on top each morning.

Imperial Yacht's largest yacht currently available for charter, "Flying Fox," was also blocked by Thursday's sanctions. The Treasury additionally targeted multiple yachts with suspected links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Russia's elites, up to and including President Putin, rely on complex support networks to hide, move, and maintain their wealth and luxury assets," Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a press release Thursday.

"Today's action demonstrates that Treasury can and will go after those responsible for shielding and maintaining these ill-gotten interests," he continued.
A friend of mine worked for Imperial,but got headhunted 3 years ago and left. I’m surprised it’s taken this long.

Murcielago_Boy

1,995 posts

238 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
Petrus1983 said:
Just a reminder for those interested eSysman is doing a really good job of reporting all of this - with the added bonus of actually seeing some of these gigantic vessels too -

https://youtube.com/c/eSysmanSuperYachts
Great channel!

On a separate note, my best wishes to OP. Hope all is well.