As part of European Union sanctions over the Ukraine war, Spanish officials impounded a third superyacht suspected of belonging to a Russian tycoon on Wednesday, according to the transport ministry.
According to a statement, the Crescent, a 135-meter long yacht, cannot leave Tarragona’s northeastern port until authorities investigate whether it “belongs to or is under the control of” someone on the EU sanctions list.
As per the reports, Igor Sechin, the director of Russia’s oil giant Rosneft and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is said to own the yacht.
Since November, the Crescent has been docked in Tarragona, a port city some 95 kilometres (60 miles) down the coast from Barcelona.
The ministry stated on March 4th, it requested permission to leave the port but did not set sail.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, the European Union placed sanctions on a number of Russian tycoons, including Sechin.
Moreover, on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, Spanish officials on Tuesday seized a yacht named Lady Anastasia that purportedly belonged to Russian oligarch Alexander Mikheev, the chairman of weapons exporting group Rosoboronexport.
During an interview with a TV channel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Monday that police had seized an 85-metre-long vessel in Barcelona.
That vessel is named Valeria, which belongs to Sergei Chemezov, the CEO of Russian defence firm Rostec.
The government in France and Italy have also seized yachts with links to Russian business tycoons as part of Europe’s efforts to put pressure on Russian President Putin to pull back from Ukraine.
