Italian police have taken one of the world’s largest yachts as the country continues to impound vessels and seize properties owned by Russian oligarchs.
Reuters quotes the Italian government as saying the 143-metre Sailing Yacht A was sequestered at the port of Trieste over the weekend.
It’s one of a number of superyachts seized from wealthy Russians on the EU sanctions list instituted in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month.
A vessel owned by Russia’s richest man, a mining magnate with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was impounded in the port of Imperia last week.
Afloat.ie previously reported on Sailing Yacht A as it underwent sailing tests in 2016.
The Philippe Starck-designed luxury ship was built in Germany for Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko as a replacement for his 2008 vessel Motor Yacht A, another Starck design.
Originally priced at €365 million, Sailing Yacht A is now said to be worth more than half a billion euro.
Reuters has more on the story HERE.