Spanish authorities have moved the frozen 85m superyacht Meridian A from MB92 shipyard to Marina Vela after the vessel failed to make payments for repair work. For reasons unknown, the lürssen built superyacht has also changed its name from Valerie to Meridian A. The ultimate beneficial owner of the vessel is the sanctioned Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, the largest tech and defence conglomerate in Russia.

The ship was technically frozen in March while it was still in Spain, however, it wasn’t moved until just over a month ago. Speaking to Reuters, a transport ministry source confirmed that payments for the ship's repairs at Barcelona's MB92 shipyard stopped soon after the freezing order. The source also revealed that MB92 asked authorities to relocate the ship so that its berth could be used.

Here’s a pic of MERIDIAN A (previously VALERIE) in Marina Vela in Barcelona. You can see on the side of the boat where the name VALERIE was taken off. #YachtWatch pic.twitter.com/tSVJ1eMzjU

— Alex Finley "La Guetteuse de Yachts" (@alexzfinley) October 1, 2022

Sergey Chemezov has been on the US and EU sanctions list since 2014 after supporting Russia’s annexation of Crimea. However, the European Union's sanctions list has revealed that the yacht is technically owned by his stepdaughter, Anastasia Ignatova. Chemezov was also named in the Pandora Papers last year.

It is not yet entirely clear who is paying for the maintenance and operational costs of frozen vessels in Europe. Some news outlets are reporting that a little-known 2014 law allows the UBO to make payments for the essential upkeep of assets in Spain and France. The significance of the vessel's name change and failed payments remain a mystery and it has not been confirmed how the payments will be made for its new berth in the marina.

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