The Russian crew of the superyacht Scheherazade linked to Putin left the ship

The Russian crew members of a mysterious 700-million dollar luxury yacht that, according to US authorities, could be owned by Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, abruptly abandoned their jobs and the coastal town of Tuscany in which it is being repaired a couple of weeks ago in through the scrutiny of the boat, according to union leaders and local workers.

The crew members had been fixed in the small port of Marina di Carrara since autumn 2020, when the 459-foot-long yacht, Scheherazade, reached a dry dock less than four months after it was built. No owner has been publicly identified.

“They were replaced by a British crew,” said Paolo Gozzani, the local leader of the Italian General Confederation of Labour union, on Wednesday. “I don't know and I don't care if the yacht is really Putin's or not, but I'm worried about the repercussions on shipyard workers if the ship is seized or confiscated by the police.”

The shipyard workers and regular visitors to their private lounge confirmed that the Russians routinely supervised the work done on the yacht and drank drinks at the bar or played billiards there in the evenings. The yacht, whose cost has been estimated by the SuperYachtFan website at around 700 million dollars, has two helicopter decks, a swimming pool with a retractable cover that turns into a dance floor and a gym.

This week, the investigation team of Aleksei A. Navalny, leader of the Russian opposition, released a video in which he argued, based on a 2020 crew manifesto, that a dozens of the Russian crew members of the Scheherazade worked for the Russian Federal Protection Service or had a connection with it. The team concluded that the yacht must belong to Putin or some of his closest helpers.

The real ownership of the Scheherazade is hidden by several fictitious companies. US officials said this month that they had found initial indications that he was linked to Putin, but they did not want to describe what information they had.

In an interview with The New York Times this month, the yacht's captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, refused to reveal the owner's name, but denied that Putin owned or had ever been on the yacht. Bennett-Pearce said on Thursday that he would not comment further until the Italian authorities' investigation was completed. The Italian financial police have been investigating the property of the Scheherazade for weeks. Italian researchers did not want to comment on Thursday, saying that the investigation was continuing.

In a speech given this week in the Italian Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky urged Italy to prevent Russians from spending their holidays in the country, as well as to freeze their assets, bank accounts and yachts, “from the Scheherazade to the smallest.” The Italian authorities have frozen more than 800 million euros in assets of the Russian oligarchs included in the European sanctions list, including villas in Sardinia, Tuscany, Liguria and the Lake Como area, and three yachts.

(C) The New York Times.-

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