While most billionaires and world-famous celebrities are basking under the Mediterranean sun this summer, Russian tycoon Sergei Naumenko will not be joining them. The owner of the 192-foot Royal Huisman Phi yacht, who has never been personally sanctioned, continues to face the direct impact of asset freezing. His brand-new $55 million superyacht was detained three years ago, effectively preventing the distinct and dynamic vessel from ever touching the open seas. The legal shadows persist over the Phi, as the British Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the appeal from the vessel’s registered owner, Dalston Projects Ltd, to overturn its detention in London.
In a landmark ruling that upholds the legality and proportionality of the UK sanctions, the panel of five justices, Lord Robert Reed, Lord Philip Sales, Lord George Leggatt, Lady Vivien Rose, and Lord David Richards, reasserted that the detention of Phi was lawful; even though its ultimate beneficial owner, Sergei Naumenko, has not been personally sanctioned. According to SuperYacht Times, this move highlights the government’s authority to detain assets deemed “connected to Russia.” It also entails that the Phi yacht will get no relief in any other UK avenues for appeal.
For Naumenko, the affluent owner, Phi remains unusable. Delivered in 2021, the superyacht has been moored in Canary Wharf, London, since March 2022, following its detention by then-Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. The wear and tear is visible in images as the once brilliant blue of Phi, more striking than the Tiffany blue hue the world pines after, now looks like a tired, dusty shade. The uninsured, 192-footer, no longer in class, boasts lavish features like a freshwater swimming pool, a 300-bottle wine cellar located in the lower deck lobby, framed by giant mirrored walls that once promised the ambiance of a five-star cocktail bar.
Phi, if sailing in all her glory, would sleep 12 guests in six cabins and be the address of merriment. Instead, a cruel twist of fate seems to demand more rest than play, transforming the Phi into a haggard, unrecognizable shadow of its former self. The only silver lining is a potential request from Naumenko and his legal team for the European Court of Human Rights to hear the case.
