Nord is not a boat that blends in. The 142-metre superyacht, valued at more than $500 million, has 20 cabins, a swimming pool, a private submarine and two helipads. On Saturday it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway where almost nothing private has moved in months.
The vessel is tied to Alexey Mordashov, chairman of the steelmaker Severstal and one of Russia’s richest men. Both the United States and the European Union have sanctioned him over his links to President Vladimir Putin. Reuters and Marine Insight both reported the voyage, citing shipping data.
The route
Nord left a Dubai marina on Friday, crossed the strait on Saturday and reached Al Mouj marina in Muscat, Oman, early Sunday. According to Marine Insight, it passed south of Larak Island, in the same area as sanctioned tankers including Ocean Jet and Lumina Ocean. Reuters said it was unclear how the yacht obtained permission to use the lane.
That lane has been all but shut. Iran has sharply restricted passage since February, and the strait, which usually handles about one-fifth of the world’s oil, now sees only a few mostly commercial ships a day. Between 125 and 140 passages a day was normal before the Iran war began on February 28. The United States added a naval blockade of Iranian ports from April 13, and by Marine Insight’s count its forces have intercepted or redirected more than 37 vessels in two weeks.
A representative for Mordashov declined to comment on Monday. Marine Insight said the US State Department has made no specific comment on the yacht’s passage.
Ownership
Mordashov does not appear as the registered owner. Shipping records and Russian corporate filings show that in 2022 the yacht passed to a firm owned by his wife, based in Cherepovets, where Severstal is also registered. Marine Insight reported that after the 2022 sanctions the yacht moved from Cayman Islands registration to a Russian flag, which lets it call at ports such as Vladivostok and Hong Kong. Lurssen built the vessel in Germany.
Gaps in the blockade
Enforcement is leaky. TankerTrackers.com estimated that nearly four million barrels of Iranian oil slipped past restrictions on April 24 alone. President Donald Trump has said the blockade costs Iran around $500 million a day, a figure Marine Insight noted has not been independently confirmed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, traveled to Russia to meet Putin. Moscow and Tehran signed a 2025 agreement expanding intelligence and security cooperation, and Pakistan and Oman had been mediating between Washington and Tehran in the days before.
Sources
- Russian superyacht crosses blockaded Strait of Hormuz
- Sanctioned Russian Billionaire’s $500M Superyacht Crosses Hormuz Despite US Naval Blockade
Sources
- Russian superyacht crosses blockaded Strait of Hormuz
- Sanctioned Russian Billionaire’s $500M Superyacht Crosses …
