Free Republic

An American couple has gone missing in the Caribbean after three escaped prisoners allegedly used their yacht to island hop before getting recaptured by authorities, according to investigators. Ralph Hendry and his wife Kathy Brandel disappeared from their yacht, Simplicity, which was docked in the waters of the southern Caribbean nation of Grenada, Hendry's sister, Suellen Desmarais, told ABC News. Police have not confirmed the identity and nationality of the couple but are investigating the incident. Hendry and Brandel were last seen alive by their boating neighbor at the dock on Sunday afternoon, according to Desmarais. The neighbor said he...

In a first for the iconic Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, a cat named Oli has made history as a unique participant. This event, which started as a casual cruise down Australia’s east coast in 1945, has seen various colorful competitors, but 2023 marked the first time a feline has joined the ranks of the sailors. Skipper Robert Williams and his cat Oli participated aboard the yacht ‘Sylph VI’ in the 78th running of the 628 nautical mile race. Oli, approximately 10 years old, has been part of Williams’ life for five years and has adapted well to life at...

Robert Kennedy Jr. was on such good terms with Jeffrey Epstein that he had free use of the billionaire pedophile’s Manhattan office in 1993 — and partied with him ... Bobby never could keep dates or wives straight... They were irrelevant to him. ... Oxenberg’s account which may raise most questions over RFK’s attempt to minimize his Epstein connection — because it describes how Maxwell was part of Kennedy’s family circle long before his affair with Mary Richardson began. Oxenberg is a member of the deposed Serbian royal family — Britain’s Prince Andrew is a second cousin — while her...

This is a rather detailed dissection of the recent HOAX claiming that two yachts were purchased for Zelensky at a cost of $75 million. The discussion dissembles the original story, the subsequent parroting of the story, and the forged documents underlying the story. Detailed links in the footnotes. This is probably the very best analysis of the hoax claims on the net.

Scott Anthony Burke is facing a slew of drug and firearms charges after officials allegedly found cocaine, ketamine, guns, and ammunition aboard his yacht. Scott Anthony Burke appeared in Plymouth District Court Thursday for a detention hearing. He is facing several firearms and drug charges after a Sept. 5 incident aboard his yacht off Nantucket. A retired surgeon from Florida was ordered held on $200,000 bail Thursday after Nantucket officials allegedly recovered cocaine, ketamine, guns, and ammunition from his yacht earlier this week. Scott Anthony Burke, 69, appeared in Plymouth District Court for a detention hearing days after Nantucket police...

There is an ongoing legal dispute between yacht broker Merle Wood (MWA) and Oceanco. MWA alleges that they are owed a 5% commission on the sale of the yacht Seven Seas to Spielberg. Oceanco denies the existence of such an agreement. The Dutch court in Rotterdam has ruled that MWA has the right to request a preliminary witness hearing to gather evidence and clarify their position. However, Steven Spielberg is not a party in this conflict. The yacht was delivered to Spielberg in July 2023 after accommodating some additional owner requests and guarantee works.

The private yacht reportedly belonging to media mogul Rupert Murdoch has been seen cruising off the coast of Fiscardo harbour on the northern part of the Greek island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea. It was confirmed that the yacht had been viewed hours after US website Drudge Report claimed that the 92-year-old billionaire, who called off what would have been his fifth wedding a few months ago, was lounging on a yacht with a “new woman.” There was speculation that he might be in love again. Murdoch’s potential new love interest is identified in the article as scientist Elena...

The thing about superyachts is that once you get on them, you never get off. Not literally but metaphorically. It stays in your spirit, features in your holiday plans, and there will never be a better way to unwind. This could be why despite selling the 282-foot-long superyacht Seven Seas for $150 million, Spielberg commissioned another Oceanco yacht, also called Seven Seas (named after his seven children). The original Seven Seas is now called Man Of Steel and is owned by Canadian steel billionaire Barry Zekelman. This month, the 358 feet ship worth $250 million was delivered to the legendary...

A £25 million party boat which is set to sail up and down the River Thames with as many as 1,500 passengers is facing opposition from locals concerned about events on it going on into the early hours every night of the week. Luxury superyacht Oceandiva is set to host high-end conferences and soirées from Spring next year, and promises to be a 'revolutionary' net-zero events space. Owners Oceandiva London have submitted a planning application to operate the vessel Monday to Sunday between 11am and 2.30am the next day.

The Manhattan apartment and Southampton mansion of a Russian oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir Putin were raided by federal agents on Thursday, according to the FBI and a report. An FBI spokesperson confirmed agents “conducted law enforcement activity” at the Upper East Side high-rise and Long Island estate linked to billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, but declined to comment further. FBI officials and Homeland Security Investigation agents were seen carrying boxes out of Vekselberg’s 515 Park Ave. apartment building and his Southampton mansion at 19 Duck Pond Lane, according to NBC New York, which first reported the searches. The US...

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, several prominent Russian businessmen believed to be friends and allies of President Putin have found themselves in the crossfire, as international authorities included them on sanctions lists. Putin himself is at the top of those lists, and his megayacht is the biggest catch of all. $700 million megayacht Scheherazade was delivered in 2020, is now re-registered as a houseboatIn May this year, Scheherazade, a $700 million Lurssen megayacht believed to be owned by Putin, was arrested and seized by authorities in Italy, in a Tuscan port where it had arrived months prior...

A member of the infamous Maxwell clan says you’re never gonna keep the family down. Not even after 50 years of headline-making indignity. Not even as one of their own sits in a Brooklyn jail cell amid a seedy international sex scandal. “This is a family that sticks together,” Ghislaine Maxwell’s older brother, Ian, said in a new interview with the Telegraph. “Ghislaine has people who love her; people who trust her. This is a family that has been knocked down, gets up, gets knocked down again and then gets up. We are a family that fights for each other...

A giant superyacht said to be owned by Vladimir Putin was last night set to be seized by Italian authorities after they recommended it be impounded as part of sanctions against Russia. Authorities in Italy said the $700 million The Scheherazade, which is more than 450ft long, and boasts spas, swimming pools and two helicopter pads was connected to a 'significant person' but did not name them. The yacht has been the subject of an investigation by the Italian financial police since the end of March and has been in dock at Marina di Carrara near Pisa since September undergoing...

Working in exile, Alexey Navalny’s team of anti-corruption activists have released a new investigation linking a $700-million superyacht to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The luxury vessel, officially registered to an offshore company in the Marshall Islands, is allegedly crewed by members of Russia’s Secret Service (the FSO). The Scheherazade is one of only 14 yachts in the world that are at least 140 meters (459 feet) long — and according to The New York Times, it’s the only superyacht of its kind whose owner isn’t publicly unknown. On paper, the ship belongs to an offshore company from the Marshall Islands......

American officials are examining the ownership of a $700 million superyacht currently in a dry dock at an Italian seacoast town, and believe it could be associated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, according to multiple people briefed on the information. United States intelligence agencies have made no final conclusions about the ownership of the superyacht — called the Scheherazade — but American officials said they had found initial indications that it was linked to Mr. Putin. The information from the U.S. officials came after The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Italian authorities were looking into the...

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos just solidified himself as one of the biggest climate activist hypocrites in world politics.

Talk about a whole boatload of problems. A $51 million superyacht, Utopia IV — owned by multimillionaire JR Ridinger — rear-ended and sunk a gas tanker in the Bahamas on Christmas Eve. According to reports, the Utopia hit the stern of the tanker, the Tropic Breeze, at 10 p.m. off the coast of New Providence Island. Maritime Management, which owns the sunken ship, told the local Caribbean National Weekly, “The catastrophic force of the collision pierced the stern of the tanker causing the tanker to sink to the ocean floor at an estimated depth of 2,000 feet.” As for potential...

Did the Wall GoFundMe Founder Use the Money to Buy a Yacht? In 2019, we found no evidence Brian Kolfage purchased a yacht — or any other personal items — with money raised for building a border wall. But in August 2020, organization leaders were indicted on fraud charges. [cut] Our original article is below: [cut] The post prompted readers to write in and ask Snopes.com whether Kolfage bought a yacht with funds raised for the wall. Kolfage said it’s not only not true, but it would have been impossible. He purchased the vessel in question for $675,000, paid mostly...

Kolfage, a Purple Heart veteran who lost an arm and two legs in Iraq in 2004, was arrested at his home in Florida and is accused of being the main beneficiary of the scam, allegedly pocketing a staggering $350,000 of donor money while he and his wife flaunted their extravagant lifestyles on social media. Newly resurfaced footage of the pair taken on June 24, 2019 shows the two men openly laughing and joking about peddling money from the border wall scheme, more than a year before the feds swooped in. In the video, part of We Build The Wall's 'Wall-A-Thon'...

Accused fraudster and former White House strategist Steve Bannon was aboard a $28 million yacht owned by a Chinese billionaire when he was arrested on fraud charges Thursday morning, according to reports. The 150-foot mega vessel was in the Long Island Sound near Westbrook, Connecticut, when President Trump’s former strategist was picked up by US Postal Service inspectors, the Hartford Courant reported. The boat, the Lady May, is owned by Guo Wengui, one of China’s most wanted fugitives, who is wanted in Beijing on fraud, blackmail and bribery charges