Roman Abramovich's Superyacht Solaris Denied Berthing Fees at Turkish Port

Governments all over the world acted at the request of the U.S. and the EU and have been seizing their properties left and right. But billionaire Roman Abramovich managed to keep his superyachts, Solaris and Eclipse, away from seizing. For now.

So far, there has been several yachts seized by governments all over the world. Most recently, it was Viktor Vekselberg’s megayacht Tango, that ended up in the hands of the Spanish authorities, followed by The Flying Fox in the Dominican Republic, Phi in the UK, and more.

But the world’s biggest and most technologically advanced superyachts, Roman Abramovich’s Solaris and Eclipse, escaped the sanctions.

The Russian billionaire has been moving his assets out of reach since governments added him to the list of oligarchs targeted by penalties. He made his way to Israel, and, after leaving Montenegro, his superyachts headed into Turkish waters. Turkey has so far opposed the sanctions against Russia.

Solaris, Abramovich's latest build, which measures 140 m (461 ft) and is estimated at around $610 million, has to keep on moving after a Turkish port denied accepting berthing fees.

The luxury vessel arrived at Bodrum Cruise Port on Monday morning. Although the marina is owned by the Turkish government, the port is run by Global Ports Holding, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. So, they feared that charging Abramovich’s superyacht berthing fees could violate the UK’s sanctions policy against Russia, Financial Times reports.

But, since he was unable to turn the ship away on Monday morning, the operator had to give the superyacht a free pass to berth there for the day, before it went on its way.

According to the same outlet, his other superyacht, Eclipse, moored in the Turkish port of Marmaris. Since there has been no issue with Eclipse there yet, Solaris might join it.