Old Soviet Ships Transformed Into Yachts for Millionaires
Some modern superyachts used to look different and basically perform military missions, and they served the interests of their country.
Many Soviet yachts became the property of foreign buyers in the 1990s at a fairly low price.
This is the case of the 70-meter yacht Olivia, which was produced as a “Valerian Albanov” surveillance ship in 1972 to detect enemy submarines in the North Seas. In 1999 it was sold to Norway and in 2010 it was bought by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, who turned the Soviet ship into a superyacht Olivia.
It has great performance and endurance on the high seas, and it is ice class. Olivia is currently equipped with five guest cabins, a hot tub, sun loungers, a cinema and a splendid personal cabin for the yacht owner.
The yacht La Sultana is an old “Ai-Petri” motor boat built in Bulgaria by order of the USSR in 1962. Initially it served to transport Soviet citizens and cargo across the Black Sea, in 1970 it moved to the North Atlantic where it intercepted Negotiations between crews of ships of NATO countries through radio communications.
After the collapse of the USSR, “Ai Petri” was found in Bulgaria, in 2007 it was bought by the La Sultana Group company to be retrofitted into a luxurious yacht. About 12 guests can lounge aboard La Sultana now, enjoying seven cabins with marble bathrooms and panoramic windows. The yacht also has a dining room, pool, bar and helipad.
Until 1992, this icebreaker tug operated as a unit of the “Sevryba” (“northern fish”) association. In 2003 it was sold to the Germans where it was transformed into a charter yacht to sail to Antarctica, Greenland and the Baltic Sea.
