REVEALED: £38m superyacht seized in Canary Wharf is owned by Russian telecoms tycoon who ISN’T on the sanctions list as Brighton-based captain slams ‘publicity stunt’ and ‘government overreach’
- UK officials boarded Phi – named after the mathematical concept – in Canary Wharf, east London, on Tuesday
- Vessel, which was due to depart at noon, is first to be detained in Britain as part of sanctions against Russia
- Grant Shapps said an ‘icon of Russia’s power and wealth’ was turned into a ‘clear and stark warning to Putin’
- Phi – a vibrant bright blue super-yacht – is double the size of the other boats docked around it at Canary Wharf
A 192ft and £38 million superyacht seized in Canary Wharf is owned by a Russian mobile network tycoon who is not on the UK sanctions list, it has been revealed.
Officials boarded £38million Phi – named after the mathematical concept – in Canary Wharf on Tuesday. The vessel is the first to be detained in Britain under sanctions imposed due to the war in Ukraine.
Initially, the owner’s name wasn’t revealed and he was described as a businessman with an ‘infinite wine cellar’ and fresh-water swimming pool.
However, he has now been named as Vitaly Vasilievich Kochetkov, the founder of Motiv Telecom, a mobile phone network in the mineral-rich Urals region of Russia.
He owns the superyacht through Portsmouth Maritime, a Kitts & Nevis company that controls a Malta-registered yacht charter business, Hexagon Yachting Limited.
The Russian businessman also owns two other superyachts, named Aurelia and Phi Phantom, which are currently moored at Porto di Imperia in Italy, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.
The government said it had seized the vessel under the Russian sanctions regime, although Kochetkov is not currently on any sanctions list.
In fact, Kochetkov appears to be at odds with Vladimir Putin, with Russian police opening a tax evasion criminal investigation into the parent company of Motiv Telecom, Yekaterinburg-2000, in 2021.
Phi made her maiden voyage last year after being built in the Netherlands. The vessel was in London for a superyacht awards ceremony and was due to depart at noon today.
Captain Guy Booth later wrote online: ‘This is a government overreach and nothing more than a publicity stunt.’ Booth, a New Zealander based in Brighton was made ‘build captain’ of the yacht in 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Tuesday: ‘Today we’ve detained a £38 million superyacht and turned an icon of Russia’s power and wealth into a clear and stark warning to Putin and his cronies.
‘Detaining the Phi proves, yet again, that we can and will take the strongest possible action against those seeking to benefit from connections to Putin’s regime.’
UK officials boarded £38million Phi – named after the mathematical concept – in Canary Wharf on Tuesday. The vessel is the first to be detained in Britain under sanctions imposed due to the war in Ukraine
Phi made her maiden voyage last year after being built in the Netherlands. The vessel was in London for a superyacht awards ceremony and was due to depart at noon today
Mr Shapps said: ‘Today we’ve detained a £38 million superyacht and turned an icon of Russia’s power and wealth into a clear and stark warning to Putin and his cronies’
Captain Guy Booth (pictured), a New Zealander based in Brighton, was made ‘build captain’ of the yacht in 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. He wrote online: ‘This is a government overreach and nothing more than a publicity stunt’
The Transport Secretary posted a picture of himself, above, stood in front of the yacht on Twitter, writing: ‘This Government will continue to take robust action against anyone benefiting from connections to Putin’s regime’
The Department for Transport (DfT) said it worked with the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Border Force Maritime Investigation Bureau to identify and detain the vessel.
It initially refused to reveal the name of her owner, stating that he is ‘a Russian businessman’. The department described Phi’s ownership as ‘deliberately well hidden’.
It follows two private jets belonging to Eugene Shvidler, a billionaire oil businessman, being seized by UK authorities on Saturday after he was sanctioned over ties with his business partner Roman Abramovich.
Phi’s owner is not currently subject to UK sanctions. But, under present regulations, a ship owned, controlled, chartered or operated by persons connected with Russia may be subject to a detention direction by the Transport Secretary.
Intelligence work by the Cell – supported by colleagues from Border Force Maritime Intelligence Bureau – identified the ultimate owner of the vessel.
The information was passed to Mr Shapps who today ordered the first ever detention of a superyacht in UK waters. As a result NCA officers issued the notice of detention.
Andy Devine, of the NCA, said: ‘Today’s activity demonstrates the NCA’s ability to react at pace.
‘We have surged officers to establish the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell, and the results of this are already bearing fruit.
Mr Shapps (above) said: ‘It was here for refit, won’t be going anywhere, and it’s just another indication that we will not stand by whilst Putin’s cronies are allowed to sail around the world in these kinds of yachts and people in Ukraine are suffering’
The Department for Transport (DfT) said it worked with the National Crime Agency and the Border Force Maritime Investigation Bureau to identify and detain the vessel
She is registered to a company based in the Caribbean dual-island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and carries a Maltese flag
‘The NCA plays a vital role in targeting suspect assets, pursuing enablers of illicit wealth and supporting government partners in the delivery of the response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.’
Phi – a vibrant bright blue super-yacht – is 192ft long and features what is described as an ‘infinite wine cellar’ and a freshwater swimming pool. She is double the size of the other boats docked around it at Canary Wharf.
She is registered to a company based in the Caribbean dual-island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and carries a Maltese flag ‘to hide its origins’.
The DfT said it is ‘looking at a number of other vessels’ and hopes its ‘strong stance sends an example to international partners’.
Mr Shapps said: ‘Now the ship is being held, it won’t be going anywhere.
‘It was here for refit, won’t be going anywhere, and it’s just another indication that we will not stand by whilst Putin’s cronies are allowed to sail around the world in these kinds of yachts and people in Ukraine are suffering.
Phi – a vibrant bright blue super-yacht – is 192ft long and features what is described as an ‘infinite wine cellar’ and a freshwater swimming pool. She is double the size of the other boats docked around it at Canary Wharf
Phi’s owner is not currently subject to UK sanctions. But, under current regulations, a ship owned, controlled, chartered or operated by persons connected with Russia may be subject to a detention direction by the Transport Secretary
‘When you see what he’s doing to Ukraine, when you see what he’s doing to people’s lives, it can’t be right to have a yacht like this here in London, able to just sail away and that is why we’ve impounded it, and denied it ability to go anywhere right now, and it’s another indication of how seriously we take these matters.’
The move comes after Italian police seized the world’s biggest sailing yacht, the 470-foot Sailing Yacht A, from Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, the prime minister’s office said on March 12.
Triesete, designed by Philippe Starck and built by Nobiskrug in German, was mentioned in Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech of March 5, 1946, when the war time leader outlined the front line of the Cold War.
A spokesperson for Melnichenko, Alex Andreev, said the businessman had ‘no relation to the tragic events in Ukraine. He has no political affiliations’.
Russian oligarch Igor Sechin also saw his 289-ft ‘Amore Vero’ – meaning ‘True Love’ – seized by French custom officers near Marseille after being sanctioned by the European Union.
The move comes after Italian police seized the world’s biggest sailing yacht, the 470-foot Sailing Yacht A, from Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko (pictured right, with Abramovich), the prime minister’s office said on March 12
Russian oligarch Igor Sechin (pictured above) also saw his 289-ft ‘Amore Vero’ – meaning ‘True Love’ – seized by French custom officers near Marseille after being sanctioned by the European Union
The Solaris is not as large as the Eclipse, a 533ft vessel. Abramovich has previously owned at least five other colossal yachts, with 162ft Sussurro the most recent to change hands around 2017
Meanwhile, fellow oligarch Abramovich saw one of his superyachts arrive safely in Montenegro earlier this month, where it is beyond the reach of UK, EU or US authorities.
His biggest yacht, Eclipse, slipped through the Strait of Gibraltar at 1.30pm, ensuring it remained outside the territory’s waters.
Abramovich cannot sell any of his UK assets including Chelsea FC without a special licence that can only be granted by ministers and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).
Any cash he holds in the UK is frozen in accounts if he has not been able to transfer funds abroad, while his shares on the London Stock Exchange cannot be sold and will pay no dividends.
But despite these serious allegations, the law doesn’t allow ministers to take away Chelsea, properties, yachts, planes, shares and cash.
Currently, the Government has powers to freeze UK assets like houses, but it cannot seize them and put them to a different use. The rules in place prevent oligarchs from renting out or selling property they own, hiring someone to clean it or even paying a power company to connect it to the electricity supply or pay a bill.
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