When A Yacht Is Seized The Seizing Government Must Pay For Its Maintenance And That Can Be Quite A Hefty Bill

Here is a video posted by the US Justice Department, which coordinated with Spanish authorities, showing the moment Tango was seized:

So what happens to a yacht after it has been seized? Does it just gather dust, rust and barnacles forever? Actually no. In a weird quirk, the seizing government actually must continue to maintain the yacht at its current levels. And that can be a very expensive proposition!   The general formula for estimating the annual cost of yacht maintenance is ten percent of the yacht’s overall value. Tango is estimated to be worth $95 million. So whichever government, likely the United States, takes ultimate responsibility for Tango will be on the hook for around $9.5 million per year in annual maintenance costs. An annual maintenance expense of $9.5 million is peanuts compared to what the German government might have just signed up for when it seized a yacht called Dilbar from Russian Billionaire Alisher Usmanov on April 14. On the low-end, Dilbar is estimated to be worth $750 million. On the high end it’s believed to be worth $800 million. That means the German government is on the hook for $75 – $80 million in annual maintenance fees. Dilbar is currently under locked up at a shipyard in Hamburg: