Meridian A was temporarily immobilised by Spanish authorities in March due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A $140m Russian-owned yacht has been confiscated in Spain due to a failure to pay shipyard bills, reported Bloomberg.

Formally known as Valerie, the vessel now known as Meridian A was temporarily immobilised by Spanish authorities in March following Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine.

The vessel is thought to be connected to the CEO of Russian state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, who failed to pay maintenance fees to the MB92 yacht repair yard in Barcelona.

The court ordered the seizure of the vessel after the shipyard filed a case against the shipowner for failing to pay the maintenance costs.

Furthermore, the court order is anticipated to provide a route to an asset auction that would cover the unpaid bills.

Several Russia-linked vessels have been detained since the invasion of Ukraine in February.

Earlier this year, a luxury yacht called Axioma, which was believed to be owned by sanctioned billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky, was sold for $37.5m at an auction in Gibraltar.

The Admiralty Court in Gibraltar announced the auction of Axioma after Pumpyansky’s holding company, Pyrene Investments, failed to repay JP Morgan a £17m loan.

Pumpyansky was sanctioned by the UK, EU and US.

In May, authorities in Fiji impounded the Amadea luxury vessel, which had been linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.