$325 million Russian superyacht moored in San Diego up for auction
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — It’s hard to miss the seized Russian mega yacht, the Amadea, moored on the B Street Pier downtown at the Port of San Diego.
The six-deck, 348-foot private cruise ship will now be auctioned off to the highest bidder with a rough evaluation price of $325 million.
“They will make an offer subject to inspection. There’s going to be certain contingencies. Subject to inspection, subject to sea trial, survey,” said Paul Briant from South Coast Yachts.
If you want to make an offer there are a few requirements. First, you need to have $500 million in a bank account as proof of funds for the purchase, then simply deposit 10 million cash into an escrow account and you are ready to start bidding.
“Someone is going to get a screaming deal, but they will probably have to spend. It will go to a boat yard, and have $6 or $7 million spent on it,” Briant said.
MUGLA, TURKEY – FEBRUARY 18: The 106m-long and 18m-high super luxury motor yacht Amadea, one of the largest yacht in the world is seen after anchored at pier in Pasatarlasi for bunkering with 9 fuel trucks, on February 18, 2020 in Bodrum district of Mugla province in Turkey. Amadea, the Cayman-flagged motor yacht, arrived from France and entered in Turkey passing through Greece. Amadeus’s interior layout sleeps up to 16 guests in 8 cabins, including a master suite, a VIP stateroom, with a helipad. (Photo by Osman Uras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A harbor pilot boat cruises past the yacht Amadea of sanctioned Russian Oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, seized by the Fiji government at the request of the US, arrives at the Honolulu Harbor, Hawaii, June 16, 2022. A Fiji court on June 7 handed the Russian superyacht to US authorities and said it can be removed from the Pacific nation, ending a contested eight-week stay. The $300 million Amadea, linked by the United States to billionaire Russian politician Suleiman Kerimov, a target of sanctions, was impounded on arrival in Fiji in April at Washington’s request. (Photo by Eugene TANNER / AFP) (Photo by EUGENE TANNER/AFP via Getty Images)
The luxury superyacht Amadea, manufactured by Luerssen Verwaltungs GmbH, sits moored in the harbor at night ahead of the Monaco Yacht Show (MYS) in Port Hercules, Monaco, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019. The MYS features 125 luxury superyachts and runs from Sept. 25 – 28. Photographer: Balint Porneczi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Amadea was seized by the Biden administration after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The seizure had been challenged by Russian oligarchs for years, but now a U.S. judge has cleared the way for the private sale of the Amadea.
There are only a few hundred people in the world with the kind of scratch to buy this boat.
Because a shell company will be buying the boat, there are fears that a Russian oligarch will try to buy the boat back, but the Amadea is not without concerns, so buyers beware.