Indian Empress’ new name hints at some very interesting links

The Indian Empress saga has been given an epilogue: following the summer’s auctioning and re-auctioning fiasco, the new owners have renamed her NEOM. It’s named after the high-tech, hyper-futuristic mega-city being built in north-western Saudi Arabia – is this purchase linked to the planned metropolis?

The superyacht remains in Valletta, Malta since her 11^th-hour private sale to Sea Beauty Yachting Limited in late September.

The 95-metre (311-foot) superyacht was due to be auctioned for the second time this year on 19th September, after the previous winning bidder Crediyacht, which was representing an Iranian buyer, failed to stump up the €43.5 million price in time. Sea Beauty Yachting then swept in with a successful bid and acquired the vessel.

Indian Empress was originally ordered for sale by the Civil Court (first hall) of Malta in May, on the application of Melita Power Diesel following the arrest of previous owner Vijay Vittal Mallya in London in October 2017 at the request of the Indian government.

It requested his extradition to stand trial over an alleged debt of more than ₹ 90 billion (Indian rupees; approximately €1.13 billion).

Indian Empress was left abandoned after Mallya’s arrest, leaving the 40-plus-strong crew aboard the superyacht with months of unpaid wages totalling in excess of €860,000. Maritime workers union Nautilus International has confirmed it is hoping to use the funds raised from the sale of the vessel to pay the outstanding wages.

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