COMMENT
Please Sir, can I have my yacht back? Captain Michael Howorth looks at the ramifications of
sanctioned yachts and asks who actually owns them now? I
try to avoid political comment when I write columns such as this. So, please do not read anything into this anything other than what you see. Looking at the daily papers and listening to the news, it seems the skirmish twixt Ukraine and its bullyboy neighbour is nearly over. I say this, because as a newspaper reader, I must search out stories detailing how the war is going, given that Hamas and the Israelis seem to be hogging the headlines.
Even if the war between Ukraine and its next-door neighbour is not yet over, there must come a time when hostilities will cease, and peace will break out. When that happens, or even before that, sanctions imposed by the west will begin to crumble and very rich men will contact their even richer lawyers who, as ever, are intent on becoming even richer!
Those lawyers are going to be lobbying in international court rooms on behalf of their clients. They are going to be seeking compensation for the loss of access to their yachts during times of sanctions and according to lawyers who I have spoken to, there is a good chance they may have a legal ground on which to stand upon.
have just described. Perhaps it is because of this that the sale of Alfa Nero has become so protracted. Clearly someone in the government saw a quick and easy buck when no one appeared to be paying the bills for the yacht lying in Falmouth Harbour. Did they jump the gun and try and sell something that is perhaps not theirs to sell? Could it be that the first multimillionaire who put a bid in got cold feet when he thought about the implications when following cessation of hostilities someone knocks on the bulkheads and politely asks, “Please Sir, can I have my yacht back?”
You must ask yourself, why has Montenegro not taken the same route with Luminosity as Antigua did with Alfa Nero. Do those in power within the government of Montenegro have inside information, or is it a question of being better briefed by legal beagles?
How will crew agencies react to crew who
have been working on sanctioned yachts. Will they black ball them?
Now when it comes to legal matters, I am a total ignoramus. Some will say it’s not just legal matters either! That be as it may, it does seem to me that in a bid to smooth out some of the ruts caused by conflict there will be a need for some sorting out. For some of the oligarchs it will be a simple matter of handing them back the wheelhouse keys. But for others the path to restoration becomes more muddy.
How are the owners of say Amadeus or Alfa Nero going to be pacified if or when they win a court case? Because by then their yachts may have already been sold on to others. Having said that it seems that selling those assets is proving somewhat difficult even if only because folk are worried about the scenario that I
But it will not just be the lawyers who get fatter when sanctions cease. Others will benefit too. Refit yards will find plenty of work with yachts having been effectively laid up without action needing refit and repair.
Shipyards will seek openings for new builds from owners whose yachts have been sold for reparation and brokers will turn a ton or two shifting yachts that
sanctioned oligarchs have fallen out of love with.
Then you must ask how will crew agencies react to crew who have been working on sanctioned yachts. Will they black ball them or be as keen as ever to place crew on a yacht and scoop up a placement fee regardless? Will crew who did work onboard sanctioned yachts be welcomed back by crew who did not?
The dynamic of the superyacht industry as a whole is likely to experience a seismic shift when sanctioned yachts get handed back to their owners. And it will all begin with that ringing of the doorbell at the end of the passerelle and someone saying, “Please Sir, can I have my yacht back?”
ONBOARD | WINTER 2024 | 7
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