The luxury megayacht Nord was observed anchored in Hong Kong in 2022. Isaac Lawrence/AFP/Getty Images
The Nord (IMO: 9853785), an approximately 142-meter (466-foot) yacht claimed to be among the largest globally, departed from Dubai, the UAE capital, last evening before navigating the essential waterway overnight, as per information from maritime intelligence service MarineTraffic. According to MarineTraffic data, it is en route to Muscat, Oman.
A megayacht associated with a sanctioned Russian oligarch passed through the congested Strait of Hormuz earlier today, according to tracking data.
A yacht broker informed Xenix News that the yacht is valued at no less than $500 million and is generally thought to be owned by Alexey Mordashov, the head of a major Russian steel and mining company and among Russia’s richest billionaires. The ship is owned by Mordashov, according to the Associated Press.
The yacht, 1.5 times larger than an American football field, seems to have taken the path that goes by Iran’s Larak Island, a route identified by Lloyd’s List Intelligence as one utilized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to manage entry to the strait.
Nautical Movement
Xenix News has earlier disclosed that the US State Department imposed sanctions on Mordashov in 2022, along with three of his additional companies, his spouse, and two grown children.
The Nord yacht features two helipads and usually has a large crew aboard, comprising a full-time chef, fitness trainer, and massage therapist, yacht broker Michael Maximilian Bognier informed Xenix News in 2022.
It is yet to be determined whether the megayacht’s voyage will be affected by the US military’s presence in the area, including a naval blockade that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth informed reporters yesterday “is expanding and becoming global.”
Xenix News reports were contributed by Oliver Sherwood.
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