By Yesim Dikmen and Dominic Evans
ISTANBUL (Reuters) -A superyacht linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich docked in the Turkish tourist resort of Bodrum on Monday, after skirting the waters of European Union countries which have sanctioned the oligarch over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich was among several wealthy Russians added last week to an EU blacklist, and EU governments have acted in recent days to seize yachts and other luxury assets from them.
World governments are seeking to isolate President Vladimir Putin and his allies over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a “special military operation”.
Last week, Abramovich flew into Moscow after leaving Istanbul in his private jet. According to flight tracking data it was a second trip by a jet linked to Abramovich between the Turkish city and the Russian capital in three days.
A spokesperson for Abramovich did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
There was no indication that Abramovich was on the 140-metre (460-foot) yacht Solaris when it docked in Bodrum on Monday afternoon, just over a week after it left Montenegro’s Adriatic resort town of Tivat on March 13.
Since then the vessel, which sails under a Bermuda flag according to monitoring site Marine Traffic, had tracked south and rounded the Greek island of Crete in recent days before reaching Turkish waters on Monday morning.
It spent the day motoring north, hugging the Turkish coast and steering away from nearby Greek islands, before arriving in Bodrum where pictures showed the imposing white vessel towering over other moored boats.
The superyacht was built in a German shipyard and first took to the sea early last year. It is one of a string of yachts owned by Abramovich, according to reports in luxury goods publications SuperYachtFan, SuperYacht and Forbes.
Its latest journey began on March 8 when it left a Barcelona shipyard where it had been undergoing repairs.
A second yacht linked to Abramovich, Eclipse, is currently cruising south of the Greek island of Rhodes and also seems to be on its way to Turkey, according to Marine Traffic.
Several groups have been confirmed as bidders to buy English soccer club Chelsea from Abramovich, who was also hit by British government sanctions following Russia’s invasion.
(Reporting by Yesim Dikmen and Dominic Evans; Additional reporting by Catarina Demony; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Mark Heinrich and Alexander Smith)
