Bystander captures photo of yacht seized by authorities back-to-back with US billionaire's boat: 'One of several yachts he owns'

A parade of wealth inequality and conspicuous consumption was on full display in San Diego, as a Redditor snapped a photo of back-to-back megayachts. 

"Motor Yacht AV parked next to the seized Motor Yacht Amadea," the original poster captioned the photo, estimating the combined value of the vessels at $400 million.  

"[Motor Yacht AV] is Attessa 5 owned by Dennis Washington," added one commenter. "One of several yachts he owns." 

Known as Montana's richest person, Washington is worth an estimated $7.4 billion, with investments including copper-mining interests and heavy-equipment manufacturing, according to Forbes.

As the Reddit commenter said, Washington does indeed own both the Attessa V and the Attessa IV, according to SuperYachtFan. The Attessa V cost $200 million with an annual maintenance tab of $10 million to $20 million, while the Attessa IV came in at a relatively modest $150 million, with maintenance expenses estimated at $10 million to $15 million per year.

The ownership of the adjacent Amadea is more difficult to parse and is, in fact, the subject of ongoing litigation between the alleged owner and the United States government.

Fijian authorities seized the megayacht in 2022 at the request of U.S. authorities, who feared the vessel could be headed for waters where it would be safe from seizure, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. The U.S. impounded the vessel under sanctions imposed on Russia and certain individual Russians after the invasion of Ukraine. 

The U.S. alleged that the yacht was owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov. An economist by training, Kerimov made his $16.4 billion fortune dealing in distressed Russian assets after the fall of the Soviet Union, per Forbes. 

However, in 2023, an unsanctioned Russian oil billionaire, Eduard Khudainatov, claimed that he was the rightful owner of the Amadea and that the seizure was therefore improper, Boat International reported. 

The judge hearing the case denied this claim, finding, "[There] is a sufficient basis to conclude that Claimants [Khudainatov] are mere straw owners of the Amadea, who hold title to it for another party." 

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Khudainatov then appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the Redditor's photo of side-by-side megayachts tells a story of vast wealth inequality and its connection to the planet-warming pollution of the ultrarich. 

According to Oxfam, the amount of heat-trapping pollution a single billionaire causes in one week is equal to the amount of pollution a person in the poorest 1% produces in their entire lifetime. 

That many heavily polluting billionaires owe their fortunes to oil, gas, and other dirty-energy industries only adds insult to injury. 

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