Russian billionaire's superyacht has stopped sending its tracking signal after leaving port in Montenegro, report says
- Tracking signals from a yacht owned by Vagit Alekperov stopped last week, per The Daily Beast.
- The Galactica Super Nova was last detected after leaving Montenegro, Marine Traffic data shows.
A superyacht belonging to a Russian billionaire stopped issuing tracking signals shortly after leaving Montenegro last week, The Daily Beast reported, leading to speculation that it may be trying to avoid detection.
The Galactica Super Nova, which is owned by Vagit Alekperov – the CEO of Russian oil firm Lukoil – according to multiple media outlets, left Tivat, Montenegro, on March 2. The 229-foot vessel had arrived a day earlier from Barcelona, Spain, according to the ship-tracking site MarineTraffic.
Shortly after leaving Tivat, the yacht's automatic identification system stopped broadcasting its tracking signal, The Daily Beast reported.
Some Russian oligarchs, particularly those seen as being close to President Vladimir Putin, have been targeted by sanctions levied over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Governments in the US, the UK, and the European Union are among those that have frozen oligarchs' assets, including yachts and private jets, as they seek to pressure Russia into pulling its troops back from Ukraine.
Alekperov is not among the Russian billionaires subject to individual sanctions.
Following the announcement of government measures, Italy seized yachts and villas worth $156 million belonging to Russian oligarchs, The Associated Press reported Saturday. France said it had seized a $120 million superyacht belonging to a close Putin ally.
Sam Tucker, who works for the yacht-tracking website VesselFinder, told The Daily Beast that the signal from the Galactica Super Nova had remained reliable over the past year but the company's satellites and ground stations hadn't detected the ship's signal since it left Montenegro.
Insider has reached out to the port of Tivat for comment. A Tivat port official told The Daily Beast the superyacht was no longer docked there.
Lukoil didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider or The Daily Beast.
The International Maritime Organization's website says all ships of 300 gross metric tons or more — which would include the Galactica Super Nova — that are undertaking international voyages must employ tracking systems to provide information about their location, size, and other factors. A flag state may exempt certain ships from carrying an automatic identification system, according to the organization.
Duncan Bateson, a marine lawyer, told The Daily Beast that "if captains of Russian-linked boats are turning off their AIS tracker, then it's because they're trying to evade being tracked."
The Galactica Super Nova has 14 cabins and can accommodate up to 12 guests and 16 crew members, according to the shipbuilder Heesen Yachts. It has a maximum range of 4,000 nautical miles and a maximum speed of 30 knots. The vessel is valued at $75 million, according to The Superyacht Times.
Alekperov's estimated net worth has tumbled by more than $14 billion this year after London-listed Lukoil's share price fell more than 80%, Insider's Huileng Tan reported. His net worth is now believed to stand at less than $5 billion.
The report on Alekperov's yacht comes after a $600 million superyacht linked to the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich — sanctioned by the UK on Thursday — left a Spanish shipyard on Monday after being docked there for repairs since late 2021.