Six more luxury yachts held in Netherlands over Russia, Belarus sanctions

Dutch Customs held another six yachts due to sanctions against Russia and Belarus. Last week, the authorities announced it was holding 14 luxury ships that are not allowed to leave the Netherlands due to the ban on exporting luxury goods to those two countries. Some yachts are also linked to persons or institutions on the European Union sanctions list.

Fourteen of the 20 yachts are under construction. Four ships are in the Netherlands for maintenance, and two are in storage. The ships are berthed at nine shipyards and traders engaged in luxury yachts, the tax authorities reported.

Customs linked two yachts to a person on the EU sanctions list. Three other yachts are still under investigation.

The shipyards and merchants are not allowed to deliver or transfer the held ships to other parties. The ships are not literally chained - sea trials are still allowed, but only under the supervision of the Coast Guard and Customs.

The two yachts lined to sanctioned persons have been frozen. That means nothing can be done with the ships at all. Ships being held can, in principle, be finished and given a destination other than customers in Russia or Belarus, a spokesperson for Customs explained.

The British newspaper The Guardian reported over the weekend that a luxury yacht owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is in the Netherlands for maintenance. Customs would not confirm this due to privacy legislation.

The ships moored in the Netherlands vary significantly in size. The smallest is 8.5 meters long, and the largest is 120 meters. The frozen yachts are said to be smaller ships.