The Dilbar yacht, owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, will remain docked in Hamburg after its crew and captain abandoned it, as European and U.S. sanctions made it impossible to pay their wages. The last crew on the 156-meter yacht, consisting of 80 members, departed on Monday, according to sources cited by Bloomberg that were reviewed by Al Arabiya.net. A small crew hired by Luerssen, which built the vessel in 2016, will remain on board.
The yacht, named after Usmanov's mother and considered the largest in the world by size, features a 25-meter swimming pool and two helipads, with a value estimated between $600 million and $750 million, according to the U.S. Treasury. The yacht's captain, Tim Armstrong, wrote in a message to the crew, reviewed by Bloomberg: "We have tried every possible way to find a solution to keep the team in place and protect our positions, but we have come to the end of the road of possibilities."
This development underscores the broader impact of sanctions imposed by Europe and the U.S. on wealthy Russians seen as having close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Superyachts and other luxurious assets among the Russian elite have faced intensified scrutiny since the country's invasion of Ukraine.
Usmanov, 68, holds a significant stake in USM, a Russian investment group with shares in Metalloinvest, one of the largest iron ore producers in the world, and the telecommunications company MegaFon. He is also the sixth richest Russian, with a net worth of $17.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The U.S. Treasury specifically designated Dilbar and Usmanov's private jet as "blocked property," stating that assigning crew and paying docking fees in U.S. dollars is prohibited. The European Union adopted sanctions against six wealthy Russians last week, including Usmanov, who deemed the decision "unfair" and "defamatory."
