In the port of Hamburg, there was an almost bizarre sight for ship connoisseurs: in the middle of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the yacht of Russia’s head of state Putin was lying here – now the yacht has left the port again.
The yacht of Russian President Vladimir Putin left the port of Hamburg on Monday. The “Graceful” (in German: graceful) had been modernized in the Blohm and Voss shipyard of the Lürssen Group in Bremen. First the “Kieler Nachrichten” and “Bild” had reported.
There was no information as to why the yacht was in the harbor there. Apparently, the yacht has been given some extras: for example, two large balconies have been added to the Russian President’s ship since its arrival last week. The engines have also been overhauled.
According to the portal “marinetraffic.com”, on Monday morning the yacht sailed towards Kaliningrad, on Tuesday morning the Russian steamer was between the island of Rügen and the Danish island of Møn.
The yacht “Graceful” of Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the marina of Sochi on July 13, 2015 (archive picture): The ship is currently in the port of Hamburg for an overhaul. (Source: Marcus Brandt/dpa)
Hamburg shipyard in transition
The company, founded in 1877, was last bought by the Bremen Lürssen Group in 2016, as reported by NDR. In addition to the repair of ships and mechanical and plant engineering, the focus should be on the construction of mega yachts.
In autumn 2021, the company also announced that it would separate yacht and naval shipbuilding organizationally in the future, that the business with merchant ships should be given up completely and that cruise ships would also be divested.
The sight of a Russian luxury yacht next to a navy ship might not be repeated in the port of Hamburg anytime soon.
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