A FIJI court ordered the seizure today of a superyacht reportedly owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch, officials said, targeting an asset estimated to be worth more than RM1.3 billion.

The yacht Amadea, which has been berthed at Lautoka in western Fiji since mid-April, has been linked in some reports to Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, a target of US and European Union sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The court in the Pacific island’s capital Suva “has granted the order to seize the super yacht Amadea” after a US warrant for its seizure was filed last month, Fiji’s director of public prosecutions said in a statement.

The court had already ruled on April 19 that Fiji’s authorities could block the vessel from leaving the country’s territorial waters while awaiting a decision on the US warrant.

Earlier, Fiji police said they were investigating the luxury yacht, which sailed from Latin America before allegedly arriving in Fiji without customs clearance.

The 107-metre Amadea is worth RM1.4 billion and boasts a pool, jacuzzi, helipad, and “winter garden” on the sun deck, according to the website superyachtfan.com, which tracks the vessels of the rich.

Various yacht-tracking sites list Kerimov as the owner, but this could not be independently confirmed.

A report in the Fiji Times last month said the High Court had included Millemarin Investment as a respondent in the case because it was registered as the owner of the Amadea. – AFP, May 3, 2022.