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- A sanctioned Russian oligarch’s superyact, the Nord, was destined to arrive in Cape Town on Wednesday, but it is unclear where she went.
- The yacht stopped transponding data soon after leaving Hong Kong in late October.
- The South African government has said that they have no problem with the yacht arriving since the country has no legal obligation to abide by sanctions imposed by the US and EU.
- For more stories visit Business Insider.
Sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov‘s R9 billion superyacht Nord left Hong Kong on 20 October and according to the vessel’s automatic identification systems (AIS), it was heading for Cape Town. The plan was to arrive in the city on Wednesday, but it is unclear where the yacht is now.
By mid-morning on Tuesday, the Transnet Port Authority told Business Insider South Africa, it had not yet received any written berthing request from the Nord. And by Monday afternoon, the Waterfront Marina had not received an application for the vessel to take up a berth there.
The yacht went dark by turning off its location transponders somewhere around 26 October near Banda Aceh in Indonesia, after passing through the Strait of Malacca. This means that no commercial vessel tracking service can pick up its position, or any other voyage information.
The AIS is necessary for all vessels 300 gross tonnage (a measure of ship volume) and above on international voyages, and for all passenger ships. The Nord is 10,154 GT. The navigational aid is supposed to always be on for everyone’s safety, but there are circumstances when a master is permitted to deactivate a vessel’s system, like when the safety and security of the vessel is at risk. It is often done when entering areas where pirates still operate. But, rather often, AIS is turned off when the vessel’s crew is up to something.
Switching it off is risky as it greatly increases your collision risk and is not as simple as flipping a switch. You actually need to pull the cables out to keep satellites from finding you. But many sanctioned Russians have done this before to keep their yachts safe from being seized.
The last time information was received, the Nord was cruising at a pleasant 17 knots in calm waters, and unless they ran into trouble, they should have been just around the corner from Cape Town by Tuesday, even with fuel and supply stops.
The 142m long, five-deck beast might already be in South African waters, but without the AIS info we just don’t know for sure. We don’t even know if the original AIS information that indicated that Cape Town was the destination was not fake, because it was not confirmed by anyone.
Also read: WATCH | Inside the Russian megayacht now headed for Cape Town, after a sanctions furore
A rumour surfaced last week on SuperYacht News that the Nord was spotted off Addu Atoll in the Maldives. Despite a shoutout to anyone in the area to report a sighting, it has not been confirmed yet if the vessel is indeed docked near the islands, just southwest of India. The superyacht was hanging out in the Maldives in December 2021 and January 2022 before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Mordashov, a billionaire close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is one of several Russians sanctioned by the United States and European Union following the Ukraine invasion for their links to Putin. Mordashov was not sanctioned by the UN, though.
The mayor of Cape Town Geordin Hill-Lewis and the DA opposed the docking of the Nord in Cape Town, but President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told reporters last week that South Africa has no legal obligation to abide by sanctions imposed by the US and EU.
SOURCE:
https://www.news24.com/fin24/climate_future/news/gaming-google-oil-firms-use-search-ads-to-greenwash-study-says-20221103
