The largest sailing yacht in the world, Sailing Yacht A (S / Y A), built for the billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, has been arrested in Gibraltar for complaints to €15.3 million, from the German Nobiskrug shipyard, on which it was based, and which only recently left, according to the portal Yacht Harbour on Sunday, February 19th.

The publication notes that the sailboat arrived in Gibraltar a few days ago, after leaving the German city of Kiel on Februrary 5 to pass finishing works, and then sea trials in Spain. Delivery of the yacht to its Russian owner is scheduled for late spring 2017.

Lawyers acting on behalf of Nobiskrug filed a lawsuit against the customer of the yacht for breach of contract. The lawsuit states that Valla Yachts - the company that now owns the yacht - dud not paid the last installment amounting to €9.8 million, despite the expiration date ended on January 27, as defined in the contract with shipbuilders. Claims for another €2,6 million and €2.9 million incurred by the shipyard because of debts on subcontracting accounts. As a result, the total amount of the shipyard demands is about €15.3 million plus the interest. On February 18, A anchored in the port of Gibraltar, which is now under the supervision of the local admiralty.

The representative of the billionaire Andrey Melnichenko confirmed to Forbes the arrest of the largest sailing yacht in the world Sailing Yacht A, built for the businessman on the German shipyard Nobiskrug. According to him, it was an amazing gesture for such a shipbuilding company as Nobiskrug.

"Such large-scale projects (sum of the deal is estimated at €400 million, says Forbes) sometimes have unresolved issues. An amount of €9 million, which the company demanded by January 27, was part of the continuing discussion between the owner and the shipyard," said the source of the magazine. The representative of the businessman added that the lawyers of Melnichenko were already engaged in the case. "We were confident that the dispute was close to its resolution because Nobiskrug gladly handed over the yacht on February 5, 2017 to carry out further work in Spain. The next day, the funds were transferred to a special escrow account pending resolution of the situation. We are confident that the arrest will be removed within a few days and this unpleasant episode will be over," said the representative of the billionaire.

The length of the mega-yacht Melnichenko is 142.8 meters, its width is 25 meters, the tonnage is 12,700 tons, the presumed price is €400 million The founder of Yacht Harbour Dmitry Semenihin told Forbes, that Melnichenko's yacht today is the largest sailing ship in the world. Until this first place in spaciousness held Project Solar (106 m long). According to Semenikhin, disputes over considerable sums in contracts may arise in the production of large size boats.

At the end of last year it became known that the Russian billionaires, the head of Nafta-Moscow Suleiman Kerimov and owner of MMK Viktor Rashnikov got in trouble with the sale of their yachts. Their former boats were seized in Geneva at the request of the prosecutor. Ice Yacht (90 m) previously owned by Kerimov could have been arrested in November in Gibraltar, and the former boat of Rashnikov, Ocean Victory (76 m), was arrested in the Netherlands on December 2. The reason for the arrest appeared to be the investigation of money laundering in relation to purchasers of yachts from the clan of the permanent President of Equatorial Guinea Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who is considered one of the most corrupt in Africa.