Russia-Ukraine War

Russian Superyacht Amadea Arrives in Honolulu From Fiji

The FBI has linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov

The superyacht Amadea is moored in Honolulu on Thursday, June 16, 2022. The Russian-owned superyacht seized by the United States arrived in Honolulu Harbor flying an American flag after the U.S. last week won a legal battle in Fiji to take the $325 million vessel.
AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy

A Russian-owned superyacht seized by the United States arrived in Honolulu Harbor on Thursday flying an American flag.

The U.S. last week won a legal battle in Fiji to take the $325 million vessel and immediately sailed it to Hawaii.

The FBI has linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov. The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the Cayman Island-flagged vessel last year through various shell companies.

The ship became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

The FBI said a search warrant in Fiji turned up emails showing that Kerimov’s children were aboard the ship this year and that the crew used code names — G0 for Kerimov, G1 for his wife, G2 for his daughter and so on.

Countries that relied on Ukraine for crops like wheat and beets are seeing shortages after months of war. Egypt and other nations on the African continent are going to see food costs "skyrocket" as a result. Donor nations should step up to provide relief, says Lester Munson, principal international and trade consultant at BGR Group.

The 348-foot-long (106-meter-long) vessel, about the length of a football field, features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and a large helipad.

Lawyer Feizal Haniff, who represented Millemarin Investments, the owner on paper, had argued the owner was another wealthy Russian who, unlike Kerimov, doesn’t face sanctions.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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