A few days ago, the $350 million superyacht Amadea belonging to one of Russia’s wealthiest oligarchs, was sailing at full speed towards Australia. The elegant Amadea is owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a sanctioned Russian billionaire, and was voyaging towards Australia to avoid seizure at all costs. Unfortunately, when the going gets tough, the yachts get seized, and that’s precisely what unfolded.
Despite a tedious 18-day journey from Mexico to Fiji as per Marine Traffic, the 347-footer was taken by Fiji officials. The police captured Kerimov’s prized possession after it arrived at the Pacific island nation without customs clearance on Tuesday, according to Yahoo News.
Even the onboard crew have been detained and are being interrogated, including the ship’s captain. Amadea failed to get its customs clearance before entering Fiji’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the Commissioner of Police, Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho, told the Fiji Sun.
The US embassy is well aware of the movements of Amadea and is cooperating with Fijian authorities on the matter. In fact, even the FBI was involved in the seizure of the $90million mega yacht Tango belonging to the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg in Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands. Yahoo News shared the US Embassy’s statement, “The United States is committed to finding and seizing the assets of the oligarchs who have supported the Russian Federation’s brutal, unprovoked war of choice against Ukraine. We and several of our EU partners have already frozen or seized many assets of these oligarchs. We are working closely with governments and private sector partners in Europe, and the entire world, including Fiji, on this issue.”
This is the third Lurssen-built megayacht to be seized after Sergei Chemezov’s 278-footer Valerie and $600 million Crescent. Amadea at Suleiman Kerimov’s request was made exceptionally well with a dedicated party deck with 20,000 watts of speakers and a cinema with a popcorn machine.
Longer than a football field the ship features an exquisite owner’s deck with an array of luxuries like a dressing room, a bathroom with an ornate bath, and a gym. The owner’s deck holds a separate saloon, bar, and dining area with the best materials like marbles, rare woods, exceptional stone, and wood inlay work.
Its owner Suleiman Kerimov is worth $13.7 billion and credits most of his wealth to a 76% stake in Russia’s biggest gold producer, Polyus. Forbes describes Kerimov as one of the most private Russian billionaires who has not given a single interview in his 20 years in business. It looks like the media will be hounding him pretty soon.
