For the first time in nearly four years, the yacht Crescent, immobilized in Tarragona, Spain, has departed for another port. She’s currently in Barcelona, undergoing service work for the next several weeks.
According to her AIS track, the 443-footer (135-meter) left Port Tarraco in Tarragona for Barcelona yesterday. The distance is about 40 to 45 nautical miles. Sources indicated that the superyacht was heading for MB92 Barcelona (below). We contacted the Maritime Captaincy for Barcelona, who confirmed the yacht’s transfer. “She sailed from Tarragona to Barcelona, under control of our Maritime Administration,” says Javier Valencia Alonso, head of the Barcelona Maritime Captaincy. “The vessel will remain in the MB92 facilities until September.” We also reached out to the shipyard for comment. A spokesperson declined to elaborate on the work list, but did provide a statement. “We have been cooperating transparently with the authorities and working closely with customs since the beginning of the war and will continue to do so,” it reads.
The Spanish Maritime Administration falls under the Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda (MITMA). MITMA detained Crescent due to Russian sanctions in March 2022. Specifically, the department indicated it had “agreed to provisionally immobilize” her. Additionally, it indicated that it was gathering details to confirm the identity of the yacht’s owner. Notably, MITMA didn’t reveal whether it already had evidence that the owner was tied to the Russian government or was under sanctions from the European Union. It did, however, state that it would arrest the yacht if it verified a relationship or a sanctioned individual.
Since that time, the detention of the yacht Crescent has remained unchanged. Spanish authorities and agents from the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) did board her in Tarragona in June 2023. But, neither MITMA nor the FBI revealed details. Despite no arrest or other formal action against the owner, the megayacht has not been permitted to move under her own control.
The only other information from MITMA to date is that Crescent arrived in Tarragona in November 2021. Subsequently, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, among the world’s largest investigative journalism organizations, stated that Igor Sechin is her owner. Sechin is the chief executive of Russian oil company Rosneft and under EU sanctions. Rosneft has disputed the claim.
The yacht saw delivery in 2018 from Lürssen and went by the code name Project Thunder during construction.
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