So, tankers are lined up near Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Lots of issues surround the location; lots of media coverage worldwide. Lots of verbal chatter over the opening, closing, re-opening, re-closing. Naval vessels shooting at each other; ships' crews going hungry, and on and on and on. But:
Not For Everybody
And not for Alexey Mordashov nor his "super yacht"- The Nord. The ship, at 465' long, is said to be worth about $500 millions with space for 36 guests, has its own helipad. While not in Mordashov's name, but his wife's name, the Super Yacht Times says Alexey controls the ship.
Mr. Mordashov is owner of Severstal, the Rus steelmaker(majority shareholder) and is a sanctioned billionaire. He is the epitome of the definition of oligarch, or is simpler terms; a friend of VOVA, aka Mad Vlad Putin, dictator of all Rus. His net worth is north of $30 billions. In America, he'd be looked down upon as a pretender billionaire. When Russya invaded Ukraine, the U.S. , U.K., and the European Union sanctioned Mordashov because of his connections to the Kremlin.
The Russyan military developed relations with the Iranian government and imported Shahed drones which the Rus then conveerted into their own variant known as the Geran. So, there is some speculatkion that Mordashov paid a small passage fee to Iran to be allowed to pass through the Starit of Hormuz and head to the open seas, somewhere more quiet, less prone to bombs and artillery and naval gunfire. Money 'always' talks, Igor.
Despite the passage of one ship, more than 1600 other ships are starnded in the vicinity with more than 20,000 crew and servicing staff. The International Maritime Organization has reported that logistics of servicing agents has become a problem for stranded crew members. And all of these individuals are stuck because the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is in charge of Iran, which seized 2 ships in the Starit last week.
Welcome to the Middle East.
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