Roman Abramovich has been brazenly sailing his two superyachts under Red Ensign flags giving them British protection on the high seas – despite facing UK sanctions.
The under-fire oligarch has both his luxury yachts – together estimated to be worth nearly £1.2 billion – registered in the British overseas territory of Bermuda.
It entitles them to fly Bermuda’s version of the historic Red Ensign flag – featuring the Union Jack in a top corner and representing Britain’s proud maritime history.
Abramovich faces having his yachts seized if they stray in to UK waters after he was sanctioned by the British government last Thursday over his links to President Putin.
But bizarrely the Red Ensign registration means he can enjoy a range of benefits from the UK including British consular assistance and protection of the Royal Navy.
The UK’s official Government website states: ‘The Red Ensign, is one of the most admired and well known emblems on the high seas with every vessel sporting it under the protection of the Royal Navy’.
It adds that ships sailing under the flag can enjoy ‘international tax breaks’ and ‘British consular support for ships in foreign docks’.
The rules mean that Abramovich could even technically ask for the assistance of the British government if his yachts are threatened with ‘sanctions’ by another country.
MailOnline saw a 6ft-wide Red Ensign fluttering at the stern of the oligarch’s 460ft yacht Solaris while it was anchored on Monday in the ‘safe haven’ port of Tivat in Montenegro.
Roman Abramovich’s super yacht Solaris sailing in the natural harbour of Tivat, Montenegro. That and another of his yachts are registered in the British overseas territory of Bermuda
Abramovich registered his Solaris yacht in the British overseas territory of Bermuda which entitles him to to fly Bermuda’s version of the historic Red Ensign flag
Bermuda’s version of the historic Red Ensign flag features the Union Jack in a top corner and represents Britain’s proud maritime history
The Red Ensign registration means Abramovich can enjoy a range of benefits from the UK including British consular assistance and protection of the Royal Navy. Pictured: a Red Ensign flag on the Solaris yacht’s tender
Abramovich’s second superyacht Eclipse which is even bigger at 533ft and reportedly worth more than £750m is currently heading east across the Mediterranean as the oligarch seeks to protect his assets. It also flies the red flag (pictured)
Three crew members, pictured wearing Solaris branded clothing (right), motored 400 yards to shore to pick up a visitor (left) and take him on board
As sanctions increase and safe havens reduce, Roman’s planes and boats are heading for places where they cannot be seized. The oligarch was last seen in Israel but could now be in Moscow
A photograph obtained by Reuters on Monday afternoon showed a grey Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, sitting in the lounge with a face mask pulled down over his chin, about to leave Tel Aviv airport as the EU decided to follow the UK and sanction him
Solaris is currently sailing south in the Ionian having just passed Kefalonia.
Up to a dozen crewmen were earlier seen working just yards away from the iconic flag as they used hoses and mops to swab down decks covered in salt spray.
A smaller version of the flag was also on the yacht’s tender when three crew members motored 400 yards to shore to pick up a visitor and take him on board.
The £430m Solaris arrived in Tivat on Saturday after hurriedly leaving Barcelona on Tuesday as the threat of sanctions loomed against Russian-born Abramovich.
It is believed that he wanted to move his yacht out of western European waters because of the risk of it being seized, even though he had still not been sanctioned at the time by the EU.
Ian Hodge, the chairman of the Merchant Navy Association charity today described the flying of the Red Ensign on Solaris as an ‘embarrassment’.
He called for the yacht to be de-registered by the Bermudan authorities to prevent it from displaying the famous flag.
Mr Hodge said: ‘I feel it should be re-registered somewhere else, and it should be required to fly an appropriate flag, not the Red Ensign.
‘I believe that the Red Ensign should be removed from the yacht as soon as possible, but it is a matter for the authorities in Bermuda.
‘The Red Ensign has always been held in great esteem, not only in the UK, but throughout the world.
‘A British masters’ ticket used to be required for Red Ensign vessels which was the most superior masters’ ticket in the world, but this has now been relaxed.’
Mr Hodge whose charity represents 3,000 former seafarers said it was a requirement for the Red Ensign to be displayed on the poop of a vessel when in port.
A smaller version of the flag is usually flown from the mast or above the bridge when a ship or yacht is sailing in or out of port.
A British tourist on the shore, said: ‘It’s incredible that the yacht is flying a flag displaying a Union Jack when it is effectively on the run from the UK.
‘Someone should make Abramovich or his crew take it down. It is an insult to Britain to have it flying when we have sanctioned him.’
The flying of Bermuda’s Red Ensign on the Abramovich yachts has attracted protests in the UK’s former colony which has the Queen as its head of state.
Bermuda resident Frank Morgan said the continuing registration of the yachts on the island was at odds with the territory’s support for the people of Ukraine.
Writing in a letter to Bermuda’s Royal Gazette newspaper, he described Abramovich as being ‘an absurdly wealthy sycophant’ of Putin and his ‘loyal henchman’.
He said that the flying of Bermuda’s Red Ensign on the oligarch’s yachts ‘ought to offend many Bermudians’ following the Russian invasion.
Mr Morgan wrote ‘The Bermuda Shipping and Maritime Authority should cancel Abramovich’s yacht registrations immediately, plus any other registrations connected to Russian oligarch-owned yachts.
‘And no ship owned by a Putin crony should ever be permitted to stain Bermuda’s blue waters.’
The billionaire’s superyacht Solaris was seen off Tivat, Montenegro, earlier this week, but amid a seizure threat it is now motoring towards Turkey
Eclipse was last seen off Gibraltar five days ago (pictured) – now it is motoring in the Med past Libya and Tunisia
Abramovich is worth up to £12billion and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world. He now cannot sell any of them
He was pictured shortly before shortly before a jet linked to him took off for Istanbul, but it was not immediately clear whether he boarded the flight
The Red Ensign which is affectionately known as the Red Duster has been proudly flown by British merchant and passenger ships since 1707, but its use dates back to the 1600s.
The flag is flown by ships registered in the UK’s Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey, and Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena and the Turks & Caicos Islands.
The Red Ensign Group which represents the UK-linked shipping registries is operated by the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency, under the authority of Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport.
The MCA is responsible for ensuring all the registries follow strict quality and safety standards required under UK law.
The Red Ensign Group website says the UK Government also supported the registries by ‘providing expertise’ for accident investigation, counter pollution work, and coordinating emergency responses.
In a statement which appears at odds with the Government’s decision to sanction Abramovich and to put his yachts under threat of seizure, the website adds that the Red Ensign Group also offers ‘advice on sanctions, diplomatic or Port State Control intervention where REG vessels may be unnecessarily detained’.
The Solaris which has a helipad and its own missile detection system had been undergoing repairs in the port of Barcelona before suddenly being moved last week.
Staff are said to have been told to tear down scaffolding so it could make a quick getaway.
Ship tracking websites showed the yacht heading around Sicily into the Adriatic for an unknown destination, before the crew updated its destination as being Tivat.
The yacht slipped away from Tivat late Monday afternoon shortly before diplomatic sources revealed that the EU had decided to add Abramovich to its list of sanctioned oligarchs.
Montenegro is not in the EU, although it is expected to join in 2025, and the port of Tivat continues to be used by several Russian superyacht owners.
The country signed up to EU sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, putting Solaris at risk of being seized if it had stayed in the port.
MailOnline saw a 6ft-wide Red Ensign fluttering at the stern of the oligarch’s 460ft yacht Solaris while it was anchored on Monday in the ‘safe haven’ port of Tivat in Montenegro
The Red Ensign rules mean that Abramovich could even technically ask for the assistance of the British government if his yacht is threatened with ‘sanctions’ by another country
Abramovich’s second superyacht Eclipse which is even bigger at 533ft and reportedly worth more than £750m is currently heading east across the Mediterranean as the oligarch seeks to protect his assets. The Eclipse is heading east in the Med having recently passed Sardinia. Destinations for both Abramovich’s ships are unknown, but they may be going to Turkey, which does not have any sanctions operating.
The Eclipse usually spends much of the winter in the Caribbean where Abramovich has a home on the billionaire playground island of St Barts.
But the yacht has been in international waters since leaving St Maarten, around 20 miles from St Barts, on February 21 as Putin gathered his forces to invade Ukraine.
Chelsea FC owner Abramovich was spotted in Tel Aviv airport on Monday before he took a flight on his private jet to Istanbul.
The same jet left Istanbul in the early hours today and flew to Moscow, according to flight tracker records, although it has not been confirmed that Abramovich was on board.
Superyachts owned by other oligarchs have been dispersed to locations including the Maldives, Seychelles and Turkey to prevent them being seized.
French and Italian authorities recently seized four yachts worth more than £600m on suspicion that they were ultimately owned by associates of Putin.
The most expensive is a £444m vessel called Sy A – short for Sailing Yacht A – which was impounded by Italian authorities in the port of Trieste last Friday.
The three-masted yacht is owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko who owns the EuroChem Group, a major fertiliser producer, and the coal company SUEK.
France detained Amore Vero, a 280ft superyacht said to be owned by Igor Sechin, in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat.
Sechin, who is also facing sanctions, is the chief executive of the Russian oil producer Rosneft and a close ally of Putin. Amore Vero, which means ‘true love’ in Italian, can accommodate 14 guests and 28 crew.
Italian authorities in Samremo impounded Lena, a 134ft yacht owned by Putin associate Gennady Timchenko, who has an estimated $21bn fortune held in Russian raw materials companies.
Lady M, a 209ft yacht owned by Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov who is the main shareholder of Russia’s largest steel and mining company, was seized in the nearby Ligurian port of Imperia.
French police, who boarded the vessel at night said the crew had been ‘making arrangements to leave in a hurry, without having completed the planned work’.
Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich, pictured, has fallen under sanctions – but he has a close connection with Israel, winning citizenship there in 2018
Abramovich’s lawyers said there is no basis for alleging he amassed wealth through criminality
Dilbar, the world’s largest superyacht by gross tonnage, which is said to be owned by former major Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov, was reported to have been seized in Hamburg.
But German authorities later clarified that the 511ft vessel, which has been valued at $600m, had not been impounded but required an export waiver to leave the port.
UK transport secretary Grant Shapps has said the UK government will detain any yachts suspected of being Russian-owned if they entered UK waters
The Bermuda-flagged Solaris was built for Abramovich by German yard Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven and was only launched last year.
The yacht which has a crew of 60 with eight decks, cabins for 36 guests, a gym, sauna, jacuzzi and a swimming pool that can be converted into a dance floor.
It also has a flotilla of 20 high-speed jet-skis and at least one helicopter to ferry guests from ship to shore, and a rumoured personal submarine.
Both Solaris and Eclipse are thought to have a series of security measures to protect against pirates, kidnappers or special forces from hostile states.
Eclipse is even said to have a special anti-paparazzi system with the capacity to target the photosensitive elements on digital cameras, and disable them with a laser.
As well radar-controlled missile detection systems, the yachts are also thought to have bulletproof windows and armoured protection around their wheelhouses and main cabins.