A luxury superyacht linked to Alexey Mordashov, the sanctioned Russian steel magnate and close associate of President Vladimir Putin, has successfully navigated the Strait of Hormuz despite severe shipping restrictions and a US naval blockade affecting Iranian ports, according to India Today.
The 465-foot (142-meter) vessel Nord, valued at more than $500 million, departed a marina in Dubai on Friday afternoon. It crossed the strategically vital waterway on Saturday morning and reached Muscat, Oman, early on Sunday, tracking data from MarineTraffic showed. The yacht ranks among the world’s largest, equipped with 20 staterooms, a swimming pool, a helipad, and even a submarine, as noted by industry publication Superyacht Times.
Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles around one-fifth of global oil supplies, has plummeted since the US-Iran conflict escalated on February 28, 2026. Daily transits have fallen sharply from 125-140 vessels to just a handful, primarily merchant ships, amid the US-imposed naval blockade and related tensions.
It remains unclear how the Nord obtained authorization to pass through the restricted zone. Shipping records and Russian corporate documents from 2025 link the yacht to a Russian company owned by Mordashov’s wife. The vessel was registered in 2022 in Cherepovets, the same city where Mordashov’s steel giant Severstal is based. Mordashov himself has faced sanctions from the United States and the European Union over his ties to the Kremlin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He is not formally listed as the yacht’s owner.
The transit occurs against a backdrop of close Russia-Iran relations, strengthened by a 2025 treaty on intelligence and security cooperation. On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi was scheduled to meet President Putin in Russia, following earlier discussions with mediators in Pakistan and Oman.
India Today has previously reported on related developments, including Iranian accusations of US piracy involving oil tanker seizures in the Strait of Hormuz and the blockade’s effects on Indian vessels amid the broader energy crisis.
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The successful passage of the Nord highlights the selective nature of movement through the chokepoint even as commercial shipping has been severely curtailed.
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