Yachts associated with sanctioned Russians have had their location tracking devices turned off.

Yachts linked to sanctioned Russians have disappeared from ship tracking charts. This was reported by the Guardian and Observer .

According to the Guardian , following the invasion of Ukraine, yachts linked to Russian oligarchs began turning off the automatic identification system (AIS) equipment that reports the yacht's location.

As the newspaper notes, “last week” the yacht Alfa Nero , which is associated with businessman Andrei Guryev, disappeared from maps for tracking ships.

At least five other yachts disappeared along with her - Galactica Super Nova, Motor Yacht A, Ocean Victory, Clio and My Sky . The vessels were last tracked in early March or April.

These yachts are associated with the executive director of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov, the main beneficiary of the fertilizer manufacturer Eurochem Andrei Melnichenko, the owner of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works Viktor Rashnikov, the ex-owner of Rusal Oleg Deripaska and the president of the Mercury group Igor Kesaev.

The Guardian notes that maritime regulations require AIS to be turned on at all times when ships are moving or stationary. The system can be turned off for “legitimate reasons”, but the newspaper claims that this is due to the desire to hide the location of the yachts.

According to the Observer , many ships are sent to Russia via Turkey or the UAE to avoid arrest. Among them are the yacht My Solaris , owned by businessman Roman Abramovich, and Universe , which is associated with ex-President Dmitry Medvedev.

After the imposition of sanctions due to the war in Ukraine, dozens of yachts associated with Russians were seized around the world. Among them are the yacht Amadea , which allegedly belongs to , associated with oligarch Viktor Vekselberg Senator Suleiman Kerimov, the yacht Tango , the 140-meter superyacht Scheherazade, which was associated with President Vladimir Putin, and others.