Thread by @alexzfinley

Oligarch yacht fans: I've got a story for you!

As many of you know, I have designated myself The Yacht Watcher and have done some Twitter tours of the mega yachts of oligarchs and other billionaires in Barcelona's port. 1/

I have made it my life's mission to be there when Roman Abramovich's yacht MY SOLARIS gets seized by Spanish authorities. 2/

A little background on MY SOLARIS. This wee little dinghy is 140m (461 ft) in length. That's actually pretty small as mega yachts go. For comparison, Abramovich's OTHER mega yacht [insert eye roll gif], ECLIPSE, is 162.5m (533 ft). 3/

But don't sell MY SOLARIS short for her size. She is valued at $600 million, with an annual running cost around $60 million. She can accommodate 36 guests with a crew of 60 (this is an estimate. I've never been invited on board). 4/

Anyway, MY SOLARIS has been docked at the MB 92 shipyard in Barcelona for several weeks now. 5/

But when I checked this morning, the ship, which had been undergoing repairs, had left the port. First time in weeks! I figured I had missed the boat (literally!). But as I checked open sources on the yacht's location, it was heading north. Weird. 6/

If it were fleeing, it would either go east toward the Bosphorous and the Black Sea or south west toward Gibralter and the open ocean. In any case,I wanted to see if there were indications of officials preparing to seize boats, wrap chains around propellers, that kind of thing.7/

First, I passed Galactica Super Nova (stupid fucking name), owned by Vagit Alekperov (president of Lukoil). The yacht is worth about $80 million. It was just docked there. No commotion. Nothing. 8/

Then I passed Aurora ($120 million), owned by Andrey Molchanov, a real estate and construction magnate in Russia. If he gets sanctioned, he might be screwed because Aurora is in dry dock. 9/

By this point, it was clear that MY SOLARIS was heading back to Barcelona. Again, she had been in the shipyard. Maybe they were finally taking her out for sea trials? My plan was to film her coming back into the port. I found a good spot and took a few pics as she got close. 10/

But then she stopped! And a small dinghy approached her. Pilot ship? To help bring her back in? I couldn't tell. Then the damn boat started to turn AWAY from the port. 11/

And soon after, the dinghy that I thought maybe was a pilot ship came back to port. If any sleuths have any idea what this boat was used for, let me know. My guess: picking up or dropping off personnel. 12/

And then, MY SOLARIS turned EAST and started going faster. Mother fucker! 13/

I thought that was it. I had just witnessed MY SOLARIS fleeing. I wasn't the only one who thought so. But... 14/

It looks like that isn't the case. As of 19:00 CET, MY SOLARIS once again was heading back to the shipyard in Barcelona. 15/

Was it a dry run (well, wet run) to make sure the ship is sea worthy for a quick escape? Or were these just routine trials? I'll keep watching! But still, if they seize it, I want to watch! 16/

Heading east again. I have a real hard time imagining the yacht left port the day Putin starts a war just by chance. As my long-term followers know, I'm not big on coincidences. 17/

Good morning! She’s still here (phew!), going up and down the coast. Sea trials? Maybe sea trials before a big trip? Stay tuned! 18/

Here is today's SitRep: MY SOLARIS is still in port in Barcelona, as Putin holds a meeting with his oligarchs. 19/