A $600 million superyacht seized from a Russian billionaire has become a landmark in the Italian city of Trieste, much to the frustration of Italy's deputy prime minister, who would prefer that taxpayers not be saddled with the $35,000 daily upkeep costs, Luxury Launches reported.
The vessel in question, Sailing Yacht A, is the world's largest sailing yacht at 467 feet long. It is a multi-tiered, silver construction made of steel, glass, and carbon fiber, with three towering 300-foot masts.
The ship is such a distinctive sight that by now, tour guides in the area have made it part of their walking tours.
Italian officials seized the yacht four years ago, under sanctions after the Ukraine conflict began in 2022.
More recently, Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister and minister of infrastructure and transport, saw the vessel while out walking and remarked upon the incredible expense it represented, saying, "What madness," Il Piccolo reported.
According to Luxury Launches, that money pays for more than just space at the dock. The vessel needs to have its systems operated and checked regularly to keep them from deteriorating, and engineers and technicians need to be paid to maintain it. It also needs security personnel.
Without all this care and maintenance, Italy would possess nothing more than a large pile of trash in one of its harbors.
With the maintenance, the yacht is theoretically an asset — but one that has consumed tens of millions of dollars so far and will continue to do so.
Perhaps most frustrating of all is the fact that this is actually normal for a superyacht. They aren't just expensive to build; they also use up ridiculous amounts of money and resources every day they are on the water.
Normally, those costs are less visible since they are being paid by the owner. However, the entire world is still affected, given the amount of pollution these massive vessels produce.
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This isn't the only incident of taxpayers footing the bill for a superyacht; the city of San Diego has a similar problem, and another yacht seized in Fiji was also being paid for by Americans.
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