The owner of the Mariupol steel plant obliterated by Russian shelling is considering selling his unfinished superyacht

• Rinat Akhmetov owns the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol that was obliterated by Russian shelling.
• The Ukrainian oligarch is now considering selling a 475-foot superyacht he ordered, his advisor told The NYT.

Rinat Akhmetov, the Ukrainian owner of the Mariupol steel plant that was obliterated by Russian shelling, is considering selling his unfinished superyacht, one of his advisers has said.

Akhmetov is awaiting delivery of a 475-foot yacht code-named Luminance, which is being built by luxury ship maker Lürssen in Germany, The New York Times reported.

Jock Mendoza-Wilson, director of international relations for Akhmetov's company System Capital Management, told The Times: "Given the current circumstances, we are considering its possible sale."

Akhmetov has a net worth of $7.3 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. His Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, was the focal point of a siege by Russian troops, which ended this week.

In late April, Akhmetov told Swiss newspaper Le Temps: "Mariupol has always been and will be a Ukrainian city. The Ukrainians are defending fiercely each and every inch of Ukrainian soil. I am proud that Azovstal is our stronghold of resistance."

Luminance's builder Lürssen also constructed the Scheherazade, a 459-foot vessel worth $700 million, which US officials have linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Luminance will be around 16 feet longer than Scheherazade, meaning its value could surpass $700 million.

A person who worked at a company helping to build Luminance told The Times that construction of the vessel carried on after Russia invaded Ukraine. Some of Akhmetov's family members had traveled within Europe to look over the building details of the yacht, the anonymous person told The Times.

Lürssen didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

The movements of Russian oligarchs' yachts have come to the fore since the Ukraine war began and the West imposed sanctions on individuals with links to Putin. The European Union and the US have seized or detained several yachts from sanctioned Russian oligarchs.