A Russian billionaire may be trying to get sneaky to keep his superyacht from being seized. The Daily Beast reports that a massive vessel owned by Vagit Alekperov, head of Russian energy giant Lukoil, has vanished in a sense. The Galactica Super Nova departed Montenegro on March 2 and then, poof, its automatic tracking system known as AIS stopped transmitting signals. All boats of the Galactica's size—it's 230 feet long and has room for about 30 guests and crew—are obligated by law to have their AIS on at all times.
"For the past 12 months, we have had a very reliable signal coming from this vessel, so after seeing it [leave] Porto Montenegro, we are very surprised that there has been no signal received from either our satellites or ground stations," Sam Tucker of the yacht-tracking outfit VesselsValue tells the Daily Beast. A number of superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs already have been seized over the invasion of Ukraine, including one owned by a billionaire named Igor Sechin.
CNBC notes that other Russian-owned superyachts are on the move in international waters in an apparent attempt to avoid a similar fate. A common destination appears to be the small nation of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. As for Alekperov, he's not having a great year in general. His personal net worth has plunged $17.6 billion to $5.2 billion, per the Daily Beast. By the reckoning of the New York Post, he has lost more than any other Russian billionaire. (More Russian oligarchs stories.)
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