When US President Joe Biden announced a taskforce to hunt down the assets of Russian billionaires, he made a very specific threat.
"We will find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets," he said in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
By seizing the prized possessions of Russian oligarchs, the US and its allies hope to put pressure on the men who help keep President Vladimir Putin in power.
And no possession appears to be more prized than their superyachts, which are more like floating mansions worth up to $800 million.
Even before the US vowed to come for the yachts, Russia's oligarchs appeared to be anticipating the move.
Marine traffic mapping has shown a steady stream of vessels hightailing it out of the Black Sea through the Bosphorus Strait for friendly waters.
But how easy will it be to keep a slow-moving, 15,000-tonne 'pleasure craft' out of the hands of authorities?
Putin got his tri-deck superyacht out of Germany before he launched the invasion
In late February, when war in Ukraine looked imminent, an 82-metre superyacht named Graceful suddenly left Germany where it had been docked for repairs.
The substantial renovation that included the construction of two new balconies was expected to stretch on for months.
But local media reported that Graceful made a "hasty" exit from the shipyard.
Vladimir Putin has always insisted he lives off his government salary and owns a humble apartment and a beat-up Soviet-era car.
But the superyacht community — a group of boat enthusiasts who monitor the comings and goings of the world's most luxurious vessels — insist Graceful belongs to Vladimir Putin.
The yacht was built at a shipyard used by the Russian navy, it is manned exclusively by Russian sailors, and it spends a curious amount of time anchored near Mr Putin's holiday house in Sochi.
Graceful, which boasts a helipad, enough space for 12 guests and 14 crew, and a swimming pool that can be converted into a dancefloor, reportedly cost about $135 million.
"Our design brief was interesting: something timeless," Jonny Horsfield, who oversaw the yacht's fit-out, told Boat International magazine in 2015.
"The owner is a very confident person. He knows what he likes and he's not a slave to trends."
Graceful is now docked in Russian territorial waters in Kaliningrad, according to satellite images obtained by CBS.
Some weren't so fast — Kleptocapture is coming for the rest
While Putin's superyacht appears to be safe and sound — for now — some of his closest associates may not have been so lucky.
Italian authorities have taken control of yachts belonging to Russian billionaires Alexey Mordashov and Gennady Timchenko.
Mr Mordashov's Lady M is in Imperia while Mr Timchenko's Lena is in Sanremo.
France has seized a yacht linked to Igor Sechin, an oil boss and former Russian deputy prime minister, in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat.
According to the Guardian, France's Finance Minister said authorities were able to link Amore Vero to a company owned by Sechin.
Others have been trickier to trace.
Billionaire mining magnate Alisher Usmanov was among the names on the White House's hit list when they announced the 'Kleptocapture taskforce' set up to track down oligarchs' assets.
His superyacht is valued at $US600 million and regarded by some measures as the world's biggest (but not longest) yacht.
Dilbar is currently docked at the Hamburg shipyards, but shortly after Usmanov was hit with sanctions, Forbes reported that refitting and maintenance work stopped.
According to the Forbes report, Dilbar is registered in the Cayman Islands and owned through a holding company, which made it more difficult to pin down.
It cited a statement from Hamburg's Ministry for Economy and Innovation as saying restrictions can be imposed on a yacht owned by a sanctioned Russian individual only "if the ownership situation is clearly clarified and all these possessions are also sanctioned".
Italian authorities have also seized Mr Usmanov's Sardinian villa, and Kleptocapture has set its sights on his private jet.
The point of "seizing" these opulent assets is not to chain them up and tug them back to an impound lot, but rather to target the deep pockets of the oligarchs who own them.
In an article for Super Yacht News, analyst Jack Hogan explained that port authorities and customs restrict their passage of movement, and that of anyone providing goods and services on board.
It puts the crew who staff these extravagant vessels in a tricky situation.
"The reality is that crew and contractors may well be in breach of sanctions if they provide goods or services to the yacht," superyacht lawyer Duncan Bateson told Hogan.
Oligarchs are sailing for friendlier seas without extradition treaties
Those perhaps looking to avoid the impending storm of sanctions are sending their floating mansions to an oasis: the Maldives.
Aside from its natural draw as a tropical paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the Maldives also has no extradition treaty with the United States.
According to Marine Traffic, at least five Russian-owned superyachts were anchored or cruising in the Maldives last week, including several whose billionaire owners have not yet been named in sanctions lists.
Among them were Titan, owned by Alexander Abramov, a co-founder of Russian steel producer Evraz; and MySky, owned by retail and cigarette magnate Igor Kesaev.
Aluminium boss Oleg Deripaska has been subject to US sanctions since 2018, over what the Treasury Department referred to as Russia's worldwide "malign activity", including interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
His 73-metre yacht Clio was also anchored off the coast of Male last week, according to Reuters reports.
Others seem to have their sights set on safe havens elsewhere.
Nirvana, owned by Vladimir Potanin, who is believed to be Russia's richest man, left the Maldives on March 1, headed towards the Oman Gulf.
Eclipse, the world's second-largest private yacht, owned by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, was last spotted off Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. Another of his yachts, the Solaris, is moored at a Turkish port in the Mediterranean.
Mr Abramovich, who is yet to come under any UK sanctions, has started selling off assets including his beloved Chelsea Football Club. He has pledged to donate any net proceeds to help victims of the war in Ukraine.
Of course, even nations like the Maldives and Montenegro, who haven't signed extradition treaties, may still negotiate with the US and other countries to secure the "ill-begotten gains".
What does seizing their yachts achieve?
While the superyachts have become gleaming symbols of Russia's kleptocracy, their total value is likely only a tiny slice of what's been stolen from the nation over the years.
In 2018, three economists concluded that the equivalent of up to 60 per cent of Russia's GDP was being held in offshore havens.
But with Russia's economy in freefall and the favourite toys of the ultra rich under threat, some billionaires are cautiously speaking out against the war.
"Peace is very important!" Clio's owner, Oleg Deripaska, said in a social media post.
"Negotiations need to start as soon as possible!"
And Mikhail Fridman, one of Russia's richest men, said the war in Ukraine was a "tragedy" and called for the "bloodshed" to end.
"I do not make political statements, I am a businessman with responsibilities to my many thousands of employees in Russia and Ukraine," he said as sanctions were imposed on his London-based investment group," he said.
"I am convinced however that war can never be the answer. This crisis will cost lives and damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds of years."
