The superyacht Amadea is moored in Honolulu on Thursday, June 16, 2022. A Russian-owned superyacht seized by the United States arrived in Honolulu Harbor flying a U.S. flag after the U.S. last week won a legal battle in Fiji to take the $325 million vessel. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
The Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) - A Russian-owned superyacht seized by the United States arrived in Honolulu Harbor on Thursday flying an American flag.
The U.S. last week won a legal battle in Fiji to take the $325 million vessel and immediately sailed it to Hawaii.
The FBI has linked the Amadea to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov. The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the Cayman Island-flagged vessel last year through various shell companies.
The ship became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
The FBI said a search warrant in Fiji turned up emails showing that Kerimov's children were aboard the ship this year and that the crew used code names - G0 for Kerimov, G1 for his wife, G2 for his daughter and so on.
The 348-foot-long (106-meter-long) vessel, about the length of a football field, features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and a large helipad.
Lawyer Feizal Haniff, who represented Millemarin Investments, the owner on paper, had argued the owner was another wealthy Russian who, unlike Kerimov, doesn't face sanctions.
The superyacht Amadea is moored in Honolulu on Thursday, June 16, 2022. The Russian-owned superyacht seized by the United States arrived in Honolulu Harbor flying an American flag after the U.S. last week won a legal battle in Fiji to take the $325 million vessel. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
The Associated Press
The superyacht Amadea is moored in Honolulu on Thursday, June 16, 2022. The Russian-owned superyacht seized by the United States arrived in Honolulu Harbor flying a U.S. flag after the U.S. last week won a legal battle in Fiji to take the $325 million vessel. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
The Associated Press
The superyacht Amadea is moored in Honolulu on Thursday, June 16, 2022. The Russian-owned superyacht seized by the United States arrived in Honolulu Harbor flying a U.S. flag after the U.S. last week won a legal battle in Fiji to take the $325 million vessel. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
The Associated Press
The superyacht Amadea is moored in Honolulu on Thursday, June 16, 2022. The Russian-owned superyacht seized by the United States arrived in Honolulu Harbor flying a U.S. flag after the U.S. last week won a legal battle in Fiji to take the $325 million vessel. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
The Associated Press