The 140-meter-long Solaris, which features a helipad and swimming pool, departed from the port of Bodrum on Monday. It is now moored at Yalikavak Beach in southeastern Turkey, according to the Marine Traffic data service. Pressure had mounted for Global Ports Holding (GPH), the Mayfair-based company that runs the cruise port of Bodrum, to refuse services to Solaris. Legal experts had said the London-based company was taking “a very big risk” by allowing a super yacht owned by a sanctioned person to use one of its ports. Bodrum Port is one of the 22 terminals operated by the company. Abramovich, owner of the Chelsea Football Club, is one of many Russian billionaires hit by UK sanctions last month as part of a government effort to pressure Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine. Foreign Minister Liz Truss described the sanctions as “having the blood of the Ukrainian people in their hands”. A Global Ports Holding spokesman declined to comment on why Solaris left the port. In a statement on Sunday, the company said it had “no authority to accept or reject any ship or yacht” from the port, but decided not to “receive any service fees or other payments regarding the docking of this superyacht”. “. Global Ports Holding plc notes recent press speculation about the mooring at Bodrum Yolcu Liman İşletmeleri AŞ (Bodrum cruise port), Turkey, of a superyacht, allegedly owned by a designated person “United Kingdom,” said GPH. “As a private terminal operator in Turkey, GPH merely operates the port of Alikarnassos as a concessionaire and is not involved in licensing a berth or yacht to dock in the port. This responsibility and the decision belong to the Turkish authorities and as a concessionaire, the GPH must comply with such a decision, provided that the decision is legal in accordance with applicable law. “However, despite the difficulties of any party in correctly identifying the true ownership of such assets, GPH has not and will not receive any service fees or other payments related to the mooring of this superyacht at Bodrum Cruise Port.” The company said Solaris docking did not violate UK sanction laws because “the alleged offense took place in a port outside the UK where GPH has no ownership or authority to accept or reject any ship or yacht in accordance with applicable law “. The Solaris arrived in the cruise port of Bodrum on March 22 after rushing out of a port in Barcelona where repairs were being made as EU countries began confiscating the assets of people who had been sanctioned. Ukrainian protesters tried to stop the mooring of Solaris in the port. Members of the Optimist Sailing Team Ukraine confronted the boat in a small boat, shouting “No war in Ukraine” and waving the country flag. He was part of a youth sailing team that was in Turkey to compete in an annual competition, having left Ukraine before the invasion. Turkey has refused to impose sanctions on Russia, despite the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union joining forces to curb oligarchs believed to have benefited from close ties with Putin. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu said the oligarchs were “naturally” welcome and could do business in Turkey under international law. Subscribe to the daily Business Today email or follow the Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk Another, even larger, Abramovich-owned superyacht is moored in Turkey. The Eclipse, which at 162.5 meters is believed to be the second largest super yacht in the world, arrived in the port of Marmaris on March 22. Reports indicate that Abramovich owns up to five superyachts with a total value of more than $ 1 billion (£ 762 million). Another yacht linked to the billionaire, Garcon, is now moored in Antigua. The Antiguan government has asked the United Kingdom for help in seizing the boat. Ronald Saunders, the country’s ambassador to the United States, told Reuters: “We said we were very happy to be working together, but under the rule of law. The only way we can [seize the vessel] is whether the British, in their request for a treaty of mutual legal assistance, prove that this is a person they want because he has committed a crime “.
