Everything was actually planned: Coming from Kiel via Kristiansand in Norway, the "Sailing Yacht A" was only supposed to dock in Gibraltar for refuelling on its maiden voyage and then sail on to Cartagena in Spain, where it was to be prepared for the final handover to owner Andrey Melnichenko. But everything turned out differently.
The world's largest sailing yacht, measuring 143 metres in length, was detained a few hours after arriving in Gibraltar, effectively "chained up". The initiators were lawyers from the Nobiskrug shipyard; according to the "Gibraltar Chronicle", a local daily newspaper, it is about "breach of contract" outstanding payments of 15.3 million euros. A spokesperson for the yacht told the Chronicle: "Such outstanding payments, which are being discussed, are nothing unusual for a project of this size. The sum has already been paid into an escrow account, but there are still details to be discussed."
These details are described behind closed doors as "services not provided as agreed". The fact that the "Sailing Yacht A" is leaving its building site to head for another shipyard shortly afterwards could be confirmation of this. It is no secret that the owners' representatives and Nobiskrug have not always been on the same page recently. According to information from BOOTE EXCLUSIV, the yacht should be able to leave Gibraltar on Wednesday.
