Farkhad Akhmedov will always be the man who loved his superyacht a little bit more than his wife, now ex-wife, Tatiana Akhmedova. The man is emulating his ex-wife and fighting tooth and nail for his beloved $353 million superyacht Luna. The sanctioned Russian tycoon appealed to the Council of the European Union to drop sanctions imposed on him in April in response to the invasion of Ukraine. While the couple battled it out in court, this magnificent luxury yacht was wasting away, moored in Port Rashid in Dubai for more than two years.
Mrs. Akhmedova had her heart set on the stunning nine-deck vessel worth $353 million. She tried every trick in the book to acquire the vessel, but the lavish Luna was the one asset his ex-wife could not win.
Similarly, Akhmedov too wants to gain access to MV Luna and told the EU that he is “no longer involved in the energy sector” either in Russia or anywhere else “and has not been for several years,” as shared by The Times. The appeal acknowledged that Akhmedov “is involved in Russian local politics.” Still, it said that he “has not held a political position in Russia for more than a decade and . . . has never been a member of a political party, in Russia or elsewhere”. Akhmedov’s legal team implored he was “not close to the Kremlin.”
Earlier in May, Luna was seized in the Port of Hamburg by the Federal Criminal Police Office. Another yacht that German officials impounded was the world’s largest superyacht Dilbar, belonging to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov. Like Farkhad Akhmedov, Usmanov also filed an appeal at the EU’s General Court on April 29, asking the bloc’s second-highest tribunal to suspend the sanctions.
After spending a sizeable chunk of their fortunes on these pleasure crafts, it is expected they will not give up on these sailing beauties that easily. Let’s take a closer look at the lovely luxury boat Luna and the events surrounding her:
The Lovely Luna:
The 377 -footer flaunts nine decks, a vast swimming pool, and a mini-submarine. Interestingly, it was built for superyacht-loving billionaire Roman Abramovich who did little to enjoy this incredible asset. The Akhmedov clan made Luna theirs in 2014. According to Boat International, the wealthy family enjoyed a season onboard the luxury vessel sailing in the Mediterranean before parting with it for an extensive refit. This extensive refit (altered spaces, upholstery, and updated equipment) left the fantastic, feature-packed ship wrapped in her five-year survey.
The lavish luxury boat boasts not just one but two helipads. And is spoken about most for her swimming pool. The pool was the biggest fitted in a superyacht for 5 years, until Dilbar showed up in 2015. Luna’s lower deck is home to two tender garages, a well-equipped gym, and an impressive beach club with a spa, steam bath, plunge pool, and sauna.
This massive ship is built for recreation and entertaining. It holds ten large VIP rooms to accommodate 20 guests extravagantly. To top it all, Luna shelters two multipurpose custom-made lifeboat limousines worth nearly $4 million each.
Luna is worth fighting for:
Ms. Akhmedova wanted the $353 million Luna superyacht as part of her much-talked-about $600-million divorce settlement. So desperate was Tatiana that she actually hired former SBS operatives to seize the superyacht. Tatiana’s lawyers confirmed to MailOnline: ‘The Marshall Islands courts have formally awarded the M/Y Luna to Tatiana; we are, of course, using all options available to us to recover her as part of the rightful settlement awarded to Tatiana. Therefore, we have retained the services of a specialist company to retrieve all assets owed to our client.’
A spokesperson for Akhmedov, on the other hand, said, ‘Burford and she spent years and millions of pounds on a costly global tour of various jurisdictions in their attempts to seize Luna. Every one of them failed, and the yacht remains and will remain in the ownership of Farkhad and the family trusts.’
