Luxury yachts crowd around Svalbard; among them is Oleg Tinkov’s La Datcha

The expedition yacht La Datcha, owned by a Russian businessman, has spent the summer in the waters around Svalbard, according to the Barents Observer. The vessel is 77 metres long, has icebreaking capacity and is available for weekly charters. Ship traffic data place it north of 80°N in mid-July. On 23 July it lay near the west coast of Edgeøya, among the larger islands of the archipelago. By then it had moved between islands and fjords for more than two weeks. It is unclear whether the owner is on board, the Barents Observer reported.

The yacht was built in 2020 and is believed to have cost $100 million. Its equipment includes two helicopters, a three-seat submersible, four wave runners and two snow scooters. It also carries a VIP tender that doubles as a rescue boat, tenders for diving support and for beach landings, and two expedition RIBs. A website for the ship says it meets Ice Class and IMO Polar Code standards and that twenty-five crew look after guests.

He was once among the wealthiest people in Russia, but Forbes reported that his net worth fell by more than $5 billion in under a month in early 2022, after Russia began its war against Ukraine. He no longer counted as a billionaire by mid-2022. His relations with the authorities and the Kremlin grew more strained, and in October 2022 he gave up his Russian citizenship, naming the war and the Russian president's politics as his reasons.

La Datcha is not the only luxury vessel in the area. The Barents Observer reports that many high-end ships carrying wealthy tourists are now around Svalbard. One is the Commandant Charcot, built for the cruise operator Ponant. It counts as an icebreaker and can sail to the North Pole without assistance. In 2025 a Moscow-based travel company planned a private party aboard for Russian VIPs, including billionaires, entertainers and TV presenters. Several of the guests have questionable business links, according to the Barents Observer.