April 28 - A superyacht owned by Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov was able to navigate the blockaded Strait of Hormuz last weekend after undergoing maintenance in Dubai, a source close to Mordashov told reporters on Tuesday. The vessel, known as Nord and flying a Russian flag, transited the strategically sensitive waterway on Saturday using an approved passage, the source said.
The yacht is described as a multi-deck pleasure craft with an estimated value in excess of $500 million. How the vessel was cleared to sail through the commercially important strait - an area at the center of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran - had not been clear until the source provided an account of the transit.
According to the source, Iran did not interfere with the yacht’s movement because it was a civilian vessel from what the source termed a "friendly country" and was conducting a peaceful transit. The source added that U.S. authorities also did not raise objections, noting that the yacht did not call at Iranian ports and had no connection to Iran.
The strait has seen sharply reduced traffic since February, when hostilities began to affect routine shipping. Just a few vessels, principally merchant ships, have been passing daily at the entrance to the Gulf as Washington and Tehran maintain an uneasy ceasefire. That level represents only a fraction of the typical 125 to 140 daily passages recorded before the Iran war began on February 28.
In parallel with the restricted movement through the strait, the United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports, further curtailing regional maritime activity.
Russia maintains long-standing ties with Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi travelled to St Petersburg on Monday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after holding talks with peace mediators in Pakistan and Oman over the preceding weekend, the source said.
After completing its transit, Nord was tracked near the coast of Oman from Sunday onward, according to LSEG data cited by the source. The vessel’s movement followed an approved route and, the source said, complied with international maritime law.
Context and implications: The passage of a high-value civilian yacht through a tightly controlled waterway highlights how certain maritime movements can proceed when they meet legal transit criteria and face no objections from regional and external powers. The incident occurred against the backdrop of limited commercial traffic and diplomatic activity involving the countries named by the source.