Flying Fox, the largest charter yacht in the world, returns to the global charter market. The 446-foot Lürssen, which hosted Jay-Z and Beyoncé in 2021 and costs $3,200,000 a week to charter, was hit with US sanctions in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian-Ukrainian war continues, but in October, Flying Fox’s US sanctions have been lifted.

The yacht’s Russian billionaire owner, Dmitri Kamenshchik, does not appear on any sanctions list, although former management company Imperial Yachts does. In 2022, Flying Fox it was named in a US Treasury Department statement as “blocked property” in which “Imperial Yachts has an interest.” Now under the management of Bluewater Yachting Dubai, Flying Fox is insured, back in class and labeled in Malaysia.

“The Malaysian pavilion is open for business and to pick up yachts that have been jettisoned from flags such as the Cayman Islands,” says Peter Bennett, founder of Bluewater Yachting Dubai. “He has no problem maintaining these yachts as long as they comply with IMO and SOLAS.”

At least 20 ships have been seized or detained following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nine superyachts have been sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Among the most important yachts affected are Sailing yacht A owned by Russian businessman Andrey Melnichenko and Dilbarthe world’s largest yacht by gross tonnage, owned by Alisher Usmanov.

Sailing yacht A remains arrested in Trieste, while the 600 million dollars Dilbarwhich was undergoing maintenance work at Lürssen when it came under export control sanctions, is being kept in a floating dock at the builder’s facilities in Hamburg.

While some yachts such as Phi, who has been detained on the River Thames in London for more than two years, are being blocked from leaving the site of their arrest, others, including that of Roman Abramovich. Halo and Waiterescaped before seizure. They have found safe harbor in countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which carry out new construction and redevelopment services. Maldives and Seychelles are also favorite cruising areas for yachts such as Ms. Gu, Northand Ocean Victory.

“We have activity in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates because (Russian-owned yachts) are all concentrated there,” says a CEO of a European shipyard, who asked not to be named. “I heard of Russians buying used yachts in Turkey and building new boats there. I even heard they went to China for a new build because of the relationship between Russia and China.”

US, UK and EU brokers are strongly advised and in many cases prohibited from working with Russians. Some brokers have chosen to move to countries like Dubai as a solution.

“The few people I see operating with unsanctioned Russians and managing Russian yachts are simply pro-business,” says a British sales broker who asked to remain anonymous.

Some North American charter clients now require a declaration to confirm that there is no Russian connection involved on a yacht. Selling brokers routinely check for a Russian connection to a potential sale. “It is not due to anti-Russian bias, but to assure the client there will be no bureaucratic obstacles,” says the broker. “We can’t adopt a Cold War mentality where we don’t like the Russians because that’s not the case.”

Any yacht that is open to seizure is also open to liquidation. Following a failed attempt by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt in 2023 to acquire Alpha Nero TO auctionThe 266-foot Oceanco was sold privately by the Port Authority of Antigua and Barbuda in July 2024 for $40 million ($80 million less than Andrey Guryev allegedly paid in 2014).

The sale ended a long period of financial challenges for the small island nation, which listed funds owed to “creditors and crew” as well as maintenance, fuel costs and legal fees among the debts accrued by the yacht’s detention. However, it’s far from an open-and-shut case, says superyacht attorney John Leonida, who serves as outside counsel for the law firm Wordley Partnership.

“Not only is the premise of each detention questionable, but so is any subsequent acquisition by a third party,” says Leonida. “The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has compensated the buyer for Alpha Nero for any future losses or third party claims related to the sale, thus making the legality of the sale uncertain. This is a far cry from a pure legal opinion that would consider the sale to be blameless.”

Amadiwhich was detained in Fiji by US authorities, was deemed “too expensive” for the government to maintain by the Fijian Supreme Court. Now docked in San Diego, the US government pays more than $10 million a year to maintain it. There is certainly an appetite to buy a sanctioned yacht at a discounted price, but buyers are deterred by the inevitable press scrutiny and the risk of expensive post-war legal battles.

“Most yachts are owned by companies, not individuals, and the legal ownership may not be directly linked to the (Russian) individuals involved,” says Leonida. “Sanctions are not a valid reason to pierce the corporate veil unless, for example, the company is being used to evade sanctions, which is clearly not the case with these yachts.”

Shipyards that had Russian yachts under construction when the sanctions hit were also directly affected. Damen The shipyards launched a lawsuit against the Dutch government in 2023 in an attempt to recover costs incurred from canceling delivery contracts for “several superyachts”.

Other construction sites have systems in place that mean ownership does not transfer until construction is complete. This allowed the Russian payments to be held in an escrow account (a trusted third party) and the yacht sold to a new buyer. Mark Zuckerberg’s purchase of the 387-foot Feadship Launchpadwhich was commissioned by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin before being sanctioned, is one example.

For most sanctioned yachts, the future remains unclear. “One of the most difficult problems in the brokerage business is that many classification societies do not want Russian business,” says the broker. “If the boat can’t get into the class, can’t be chartered, and if it can’t get to the flag state you want or can’t be insured through the London market, then it starts to get more complicated.”

“Political decision-makers have left these superyachts in limbo,” adds Leonida. “It has set a dangerous corporate law precedent that the courts will be asked to correct at some point in the future.”

When that is, exactly, is the great unknown.