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Sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s $600 million superyacht sails off Turkey’s coast after 8 days without destination

    Russian businessman Roman Abramovich next to his Solaris superyacht

    Roman Abramovich and his superyacht, Solaris, seen here in Porto Montenegro.Gennadi Avramenko/Epsilon/Getty Images/Filip Filipovic

    • Roman Abramovich’s yacht was docked off the coast of Turkey on Monday, ship tracking data shows.

    • His $600 million Solaris yacht is “scenic cruising” with no port destination, according to Marine Traffic.

    • The yacht may be trying to confuse people about its final destination, a Marine Traffic spokesperson said.

    A luxury superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, which has been sailing without a destination for more than a week, has updated its status for the first time since leaving port, data from the ship’s tracking suggests that the vessel is not intends to dock immediately.

    Solaris, a 140-foot vessel valued at $600 million, is currently off the southwest coast of Turkey, sailing west, according to tracking website Marine Traffic. On Monday, the ship’s status changed from “pending orders” to “scenic cruising” — the status it had displayed since departing from Tivat, Montenegro on March 13 — Marine Traffic’s website showed.

    Solaris, Roman Abramovich's superyacht, is off the coast of Turkey, according to Marine Traffic data.

    Solaris, Roman Abramovich’s superyacht, is off the coast of Turkey, according to Marine Traffic data.maritime traffic

    Georgios Hatzimanolis, a spokesperson for Marine Traffic, told Insider that while yachts and ships can change their status whenever they want, “in this case most likely [Solaris is] using the status to confuse people of where the final destination is.”

    “A lot of speculation about whether it will be Turkey, Israel or even the UAE,” Hatzimanolis said.

    The locations of luxury goods owned by Russian oligarchs are being closely watched as sanctions were imposed on many of the country’s elite in response to Moscow’s order to send troops to Ukraine. European countries, including Italy and France, have already seized yachts, private jets and other assets from some sanctioned oligarchs.

    Abramovich, who has a net worth of $13.6 billion per Bloomberg, has been sanctioned by the UK and the EU meaning his assets have been frozen and he is not allowed to do business there.

    Solaris had been in the Barcelona shipyard of Spanish yacht maintenance company MB92 since late 202, but left on March 8, shortly before Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, was hit by UK and EU sanctions.

    In the run-up to the sanctions announcement, some of Russia’s wealthiest people tried to move their expensive boats and private jets to jurisdictions where they could protect their assets from seizure.

    Abramovich’s other superyacht, Eclipse, worth $700 million according to SuperYacht Fan, was located just off the coast of Crete, a Greek island in the Mediterranean Sea, on Monday, according to Marine Traffic. The yacht has been sailing since it left St. Martin in the Caribbean on Feb. 21, the ship’s tracking records show.

    Read the original article on Business Insider