A 142-meter yacht slipped out of a Dubai marina on Friday afternoon, motored through one of the most tightly restricted shipping lanes on earth the next morning, and tied up in Muscat early Sunday. Nobody has said how it got permission.
The yacht is the Nord, worth more than $500 million, and it is linked to sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov. MarineTraffic data showed it leaving Dubai at around 14 p.m. on Friday and crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, Reuters reported.
A lane that is nearly empty
Iran has choked traffic through the strait since February. About a fifth of the world’s oil supply normally moves through it. Before the war with Iran began on February 28, between 125 and 140 vessels crossed each day. Now only a handful do, mostly merchant ships, while Washington and Tehran hold to a fragile truce. The United States responded to Iran’s restrictions by blockading Iranian ports.
A representative for Mordashov, a steel magnate known to be close to Vladimir Putin, declined to comment on Monday.
Who owns the Nord
Mordashov is not officially listed as the owner. Shipping records and Russian business registers from 2025 show that in 2022 the vessel was registered to a Russian company owned by his wife. That company is based in Cherepovets, the same city where his company Severstal is registered. The United States and the European Union sanctioned Mordashov after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, citing his ties to Putin.
Superyacht Times lists the Nord among the largest yachts in the world. It carries 20 cabins, a swimming pool, a helipad and a submarine.
Moscow and Tehran
The crossing came as Russia and Iran, longtime allies, edged closer. A 2025 agreement deepened their cooperation on intelligence and security. On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Russia to meet Putin, after weekend talks with mediators in Pakistan and Oman.
