Amadea was in the Caribbean and it began a very long voyage sailing through the Panama Canal to the Pacific island of Fiji. The US government decided that he had evaded sanctions and that gave them the grounds to seize the vessel, even as far away as Fiji. At that point, the owner on paper, Mr. Kudanatov, objected and tried to stop the seizure in the courts in Fiji. Now there's a several week long battle in Fiji courts where the US government won. It has been sitting ever since June at the Port of San Diego awaiting the process that the Justice Department is trying to go through to actually sell it.
Bloomberg's Stephanie Baker and the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos explain the fight to seize (and maintain) billionaire boats.
This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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