Hormuz blocked, but Russian-linked superyacht gets through
A US$500 million superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov has crossed the restricted Strait of Hormuz, raising questions over how it gained passage.
A luxury superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov sailed through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, becoming one of the few vessels to pass through the strategic waterway amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, according to Reuters.
The 142-metre superyacht Nord, valued at more than US$500 million, left a marina in Dubai at around 2pm on Friday before crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday morning and arriving in Muscat early on Sunday, according to data from the MarineTraffic platform.
It remains unclear how the multi-deck pleasure vessel received permission to use the route. Since February, Iran has severely restricted traffic through the strait, which normally handles around one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
Only a handful of vessels, mostly merchant ships, are currently passing through the waterway each day. That is a sharp drop from the previous average of around 125 to 140 daily passages before the conflict involving Iran began.
Russia and Iran have long been allies. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Russia on Monday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin after holding discussions with mediators in Pakistan and Oman over the weekend.
Mordashov, who is known to be close to Putin, is not officially listed as the owner of Nord. However, shipping data and Russian corporate records from 2025 show that the vessel was registered to a Russian company owned by his wife in 2022, Reuters reported.
Mordashov was among several Russians sanctioned by the United States and the European Union after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because of their links to Putin.
