The industrial zone and sprawling lorry park in the small Dutch town of Oss give almost no indication of the opulent yachts being built inside nine covered dockside sheds, or of the identity of their clients or owners.
But Heesen, the local shipyard that boasts of “producing some of the finest superyachts in the world”, is part of a tight network of manufacturers and service businesses for the waterborne super-rich that is now under scrutiny because of their Russian oligarch clientele.
Heesen is ultimately owned by Vagit Alekperov, who runs the Russian oil company Lukoil and is under sanctions in the UK and Australia. The company, which says it is operationally independent of Alekperov, has built three “Galactica” yachts linked to him. It has also built two that are connected to the UK and EU-sanctioned businessmen Igor Kesaev.