An $80 million superyacht linked to a sanctioned Russian oligarch has spent 7 weeks lingering off the coast of Montenegro, tracking data suggests

• A superyacht linked to a sanctioned Russian oligarch has been lingering off Montenegro's coast.
• Galactica Super Nova has been in roughly the same spot since March 2, tracking data shows.

An $80 million superyacht linked to a sanctioned Russian oligarch has been lingering off the coast of Montenegro for seven weeks, according to ship-tracking data.

Galactica Super Nova is owned by Vagit Alekperov, according to the website SuperYacht Fan. Alekperov, president and CEO of Russian oil giant Lukoil, was sanctioned by the UK on April 13. He isn't on European Union or US sanctions lists.

Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking service, shows that Galactica Super Nova arrived in the port of Tivat, Montenegro, on March 1 and departed the next day, after the country's government said it would adopt EU sanctions even though it isn't a member of the EU.

Galactica Super Nova has remained off the coast of Montenegro since March 2, according to Marine Traffic.

The ship was docked in Barcelona, Spain, until late February. The day after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the ship's captain reportedly gave his crew 48 hours to leave the port. The ship then sailed for Tivat.

After leaving Tivat on March 2, the ship's tracking signal went offline, leading to speculation it could be trying to avoid detection.

Alekperov has an estimated net worth of nearly $23 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. He was sanctioned by the UK on April 13 when it introduced 178 new measures against Russia and Russian individuals.

As the war in Ukraine rages, the West continues to place sanctions on people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. If the EU decides to sanction Alekperov and freeze his assets, this could put Galactica Super Nova at risk of seizure if it moors in an EU country – or in Montenegro, should the nation indeed adopt EU sanctions.

Luxury yachts, private jets, and properties owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs including Roman Abramovich and Igor Sechin have been seized in EU countries since the bloc imposed sanctions in the wake of the Ukraine war.

The deputy prime minister of Montenegro said in early April that his country had adopted sanctions against Russia but didn't specify what they were.