$500 Million Russian Superyacht Reappears After Months In The Dark

Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov's half-billion-dollar superyacht began transmitting its location last weekend after going dark for eight months to escape capture by Western authorities. 

Mordashov is one of Russia's wealthiest men and the largest shareholder of Severstal PAO, one of the world's biggest steelmakers. He was put under US and European Union sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

The billionaire's 465-foot (142-meter) "Nord" vessel began transmitting its location on Sunday (June 11) in the Indian Ocean and is currently passing Singapore. Bloomberg said the yacht is headed to Busan, South Korea. 

Nord, which features two helicopter pads, a swimming pool, and a cinema, stopped broadcasting its location late last year while en route to Cape Town in South Africa.

It appears Mordashov has been seeking safe harbor for his assets while Western authorities have been on a seizing spree of assets belonging to Russian oligarchs. The yacht's movements and even going dark for eight months shows that the sanctioned owner faces a dilemma that only a limited number of ports worldwide will harbor his yacht. 

And prepare for a flurry of comments from Western countries demanding to block the Nord from docking in Busan.