Captain of oligarch’s £38Million superyacht breaks silence & slams seizure after it’s detained in Canary Wharf
THE captain of a superyacht detained by British police has slammed the move as a "publicity stunt" and a "government overreach".
Luxury ship Phi, worth £38million, was stormed by officers yesterday as it emerged it is allegedly owned by Russian Vitaly Vasilievich Kochetkov.
The businessman, who owns a small mobile phone network in the Urals, is not currently on the UK’s sanction list and was described by friends as an “EU citizen”.
Reacting to the news of the ship’s detainment, captain Guy Booth wrote online: "This is a government overreach and nothing more than a publicity stunt."
Booth, a New Zealander based in Brighton, has posted several pictures of the vessel on his Instagram feed.
An experienced superyacht seaman, he was appointed as “owner’s representative” and “build captain” to oversee the construction of the yacht in 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Phi was built by Royal Huisman and includes an “infinite wine cellar”, rotating sofa, and fresh-water swimming pool.
Replying to comments about the seizure on LinkedIn, Booth wrote: "You’re quite right - Collective punishment of all Russians (like Palestinians) for actions of one Russian, is illegal under international law.”
Owner 'deliberately hidden'
Kochetkov reportedly owns the 58-metre Phi through Portsmouth Maritime, a Kitts & Nevis company that controls a Malta based yacht charter business, Hexagon Yachting Limited.
The government did not name the owner when it announced the move to detain the vessel and only disclosed that the vessel belonged to a “Russian businessman”.
It added that the ownership of the yacht was “deliberately well-hidden” and that it was first identified as being potentially linked to Russia on March 13.
It was previously thought to be nominally owned by someone called Sergei Georgievich Naumenko, but officials were still trying to work out the real ownership.
Naumenko is also not on the UK sanctions list.
The yacht was in London for a World Superyacht Awards judging panel event that took place on Monday at the five-star Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge.
It had been planning to leave at midday on Tuesday. Pictures released by the NCA yesterday afternoon showed their officers onboard the expensive ship.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Now the ship is being held, it won’t be going anywhere … 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.
“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 the ability to go anywhere right now, and it’s another indication of how seriously we take these matters.”
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The PM’s spokesperson said: “For the first time ever in UK waters we have detained a Russian super-yacht, the £38m Phi.
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“The Department for Transport (DfT) has worked closely with the National Crime Agency and Border Force maritime investigation bureau to intercept this superyacht.
“We will continue to take robust action against anyone benefiting from Russian links.”
