The super yacht Nord, about 142m long, is one of the very few ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, heading towards Muscat - the port capital of Oman. The ship left port in Dubai on April 24 and arrived in the early morning of April 26, according to MarineTraffic data.
The super yacht worth about 670 million USD belongs to Alexey Mordashov - the steel industry tycoon of Russia. The ship has 20 sleeping cabins, a swimming pool, a helicopter landing pad and even a mini submarine.
According to voyage data, the super yacht follows a route designated by Iran, close to the country's coast. It is not yet clear how the ship was licensed to use that route, or whether it had to pay fees to Iran under the mechanism called the "Tehran toll station".
Along with the super yacht Nord, 2 other ships also passed through the Strait of Hormuz on the morning of April 25.
One is the oil tanker Ocean Jet, accused of supporting the illegal sale of Iranian drones. The other is Lumina Ocean, flying the Curacao flag, sanctioned for belonging to the "dark fleet" specializing in transporting Iranian oil.
Both ships are traveling along the southern route of Larak Island and may be considered targets of the maritime blockade imposed by the US due to links with Iran.
Since February, Iran has tightened traffic through the Strait of Hormuz - a route that handles about 1/5 of global oil supplies. To put pressure on Tehran to abandon control of the strait and return to the negotiating table, the US has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
Before the Iranian conflict broke out on February 28, up to 140 ships passed through this sea route every day.
Russia and Iran are long-time allies. Tehran has supplied Moscow with thousands of Shahed UAVs in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. Last year, Iran signed a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Russia. Russia is currently building 2 new nuclear power plants in Bushehr - where Iran's only nuclear power plant is located.
Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi went to St Petersburg to meet with President Putin to discuss the Middle East conflict, after exchanges with mediators in Pakistan and Oman last weekend.
Mr. Mordashov has not been officially listed as the owner of the Nord, although it has long been identified as the person behind this super yacht.
Sea transport data and Russian business records in 2025 show that the super yacht is registered under the name of a Russian company owned by his wife since 2022. This company is located in Cherepovets city, where Severstal is also registered to operate.
Mr. Mordashov is among many Russian businessmen sanctioned by the US, Britain and the European Union after the Ukraine conflict.
This year, Forbes ranked him as the richest person in Russia with estimated assets of about 36 billion USD.
