Isle of Man delists two Russian-linked super yachts

Sailing Yacht A was one of two super yachts removed from the Manx ship registry

Sixteen jets and helicopters as well as two super yachts with Russian links have now been stripped of their Isle of Man-registered status.

Enterprise Minister Alex Allinson the island was "going further than UK sanctions" by delisting any vessels implicated with the country.

Craft linked to or owned by those listed in EU and G7 sanctions were also being deregistered, he said.

The action is being taken in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Until now, the Manx government has automatically mirrored sanctions introduced by the UK in response to the war.

'Detective work'

Dr Allinson said including EU and G7 penalties as well was part of a deliberate policy to be "proactive", with the state-run registries in the process of reviewing databases to "make sure we know exactly who we are dealing with".

Limiting the activity of "high net wealth oligarchs" would put pressure by proxy on Russia, he added.

One airliner, eight business jets and seven helicopters have been removed from the Manx registry, which contains around 320 aircraft.

Sailing Yacht A, which visited the island last year, was one of the two large vessels delisted along with seven smaller yacht-servicing craft.

When a ship or plane is deregistered it cannot legally fly or take to the sea, a step Dr Allinson said was an "effective" way of penalising owners.

The ownership structures of some vessels "can be a little bit opaque" when it comes to identifying owners, and the registries had to do some "detective work" in certain cases, he said.

He added: "We have acted on high profile cases raised in the press as we can easily see people who have direct links to Putin's regime".