Russian superyacht held in London.
The Phi is a sleek 192-foot superyacht that looks good even in a city known for its rich. It has a wine cellar and a swimming pool.
On Tuesday, the Russian-owned ship, which is docked at London's Canary Wharf, was getting a lot of attention for another reason: It had just been detained by the British government.
People who work for President Vladimir V. Putin and his allies should know that Britain is going to go after people who are getting money from their connections to the Kremlin, the government says. The Phi is the first such vessel that has been detained in British waters as a warning to those people. People in Britain say the yacht was owned by a Russian businessman, but they didn't say who.
This is what Grant Shapps, the British secretary of state for transportation, said in a statement: "Today, we've detained a £38 million superyacht and turned an icon of Russia's power and wealth into a clear and stark warning to Putin and his henchmen. This is what we've done."
The seizure of the Phi comes at a time when the world is trying to hurt people who are close to the Russian president in order to put pressure on him. A lot of superyachts linked to wealthy Russians have been taken away from places like Italy, Spain, and Britain by the government.
Phi was built in the Netherlands by Royal Huisman, a well-known ship builder. It is the company's third-largest yacht, according to the crime agency, a national law enforcement agency that fights organized and economic crime, among other things.
There was a lot of secrecy about the yacht's ownership, the agency said. The yacht was registered to a company in the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis, and it had Maltese flags on it.
The ship was moored in Canary Wharf and was supposed to leave at noon today, the Department of Transportation said, before it was stopped by police. When it was first thought to be owned by a Russian on March 13, the department said, more investigation led to its detention.
Many other ships are being looked at by the Department of Transportation. People who try to profit from their Russian connections will get "the strongest possible punishment," Mr. Schnapps said. "Detaining the Phi shows us again that we can and will do everything we can."