Another megayacht apparently owned by a Russian billionaire on the European Union sanctions list was seized by Italian authorities.
The almost 143-meter-long (470-feet) three-master is estimated to be worth around 530 million euros ($578 million) and is considered the largest sailing yacht in the world.
The vessel, named "Sailing Yacht A," is in the port of Trieste. Officials from the Italian financial police seized it on Friday, the government in Rome confirmed.
The yacht, built by the German shipyard Nobiskrug, is believed to belong to Russian coal billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, who was put on a European Union sanctions list after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, the Italian financial police seized another yacht suspected to belong to a Russian oligarch.
And U.S. officials suspect that another superyacht, currently in Marina di Carrara, a port in Tuscany, could belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a New York Times report.
U.S. intelligence agencies have found initial indications that the "Scheherazade" yacht, worth $700 million, is linked to Putin, the newspaper said citing sources familiar with the matter.
However, The Italian Sea Group, the luxury yacht company currently working on the 140-meter-long ship, said that Putin was not documented as the owner.
On the other hand, authorities have no doubt that the "Sailing Yacht A" belongs to Melnichenko, who landed on the EU sanctions list a day after his 50th birthday.
The oligarch, who lives in St. Moritz, Switzerland, is the main owner of the fertilizer company EuroChem and the coal company Suek. Both companies announced on Thursday that the billionaire would withdraw from their respective boards and stand down as a beneficiary.
Italian Finance Minister Daniele Franco on Saturday praised the police under his command for their crackdown on the assets, real estate and luxury goods of Russian oligarchs.
"To date, goods worth a total of more than €700 million have been seized," Franco said at an event in Bergamo.
