- Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's $600 million superyacht docked in Montenegro on March 12.
- But none of its crew disembarked and its captain scrapped plans to refuel there, the WSJ reported.
- Instead, the vessel left in a hurry, a port exec said. It arrived in Turkey on Monday.
The captain of Russian Abramovich's $600 million superyacht hastily left a port in Montenegro as governments were stepping up their sanctions against Russian oligarchs, The Wall Street Journal revealed.
On March 12, just two days after Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK, his $600 million superyacht arrived in Montenegro from Barcelona, Spain. The vessel's captain had planned to refuel in the port of Tivat, the Journal reported, but the yacht left in a hurry on March 13 without taking on fuel.
Two days after Solaris left Tivat, the European Union announced a fresh wave of sanctions targeting Russian elites – including Abramovich – in response to Moscow's decision to invade Ukraine. Montenegro is not a member of the EU but it said on March 1 that it was adopting the EU's sanctions against Russia. Media outlet Balkan Insight reported that the implementation of this has repeatedly been delayed.
Solaris arrived in the southwest Turkey port of Bodrum on Monday. The yacht's path – as well of that of Abramovich's second luxury vessel, Eclipse – had been closely watched amid mounting interest surrounding the locations of assets belonging to those targeted by Western sanctions.
Luxury yachts and private jets belonging to other sanctioned individuals have been seized in EU countries since the measures were announced. Turkey may provide a haven, however, with Ankara not imposing sanctions on Moscow, unlike fellow NATO members.
After being docked in a shipyard in Barcelona for repairs since late 2021, the 460-foot Solaris left Barcelona on March 8, arriving in Tivat four days later. Dockworkers there told the Journal that no one got off the ship while it was anchored off the port, where it only stayed for a day, according to information from ship-tracking websites.
A port executive told the Journal said that a Tivat yacht agency employee briefly hopped aboard Solaris to check the passports and paperwork of the crew – reported by the paper to be at least 50 strong – before the vessel left without refueling.
Abramovich, who owns Chelsea Football Club and is worth around $14 billion, has close ties to the Kremlin. His name was include among those sanctioned by the UK on March 10 and the EU on March 15.
His other vessel, Eclipse, which is slightly larger at 533 foot and worth an estimated $700, arrived in Marmaris, southwest Turkey on Tuesday, having set sail from the Caribbean in late February. His $65 million private jet had traveled to Istanbul the previous week, but only stayed there for a day.
Abramovich's representatives didn't respond to The Journal's request for comment. Porto Montenegro did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on how long Solaris was docked in Tivat for, whether it refuel led there, and whether any staff left the vessel.
