Frankfurt court rules Dilbar’s asset freeze unproven, easing Lürssen’s cost recovery

The Frankfurt Administrative Court ruled on 11 June 2026 that German authorities had not proved that Dilbar, the 156-metre yacht impounded at Lürssen’s Hamburg yard in April 2022, was still subject to an EU asset freeze, Megayacht News reported on 1 July.

The court also held that the authorities had not proved who the yacht’s beneficial owner is. It ordered the government to formally declare that the yard has no obligation to treat Dilbar as a frozen economic resource.

Court records show the yacht belongs to a Cyprus-based company, ultimately for the benefit of a trust. The trust’s beneficiary until December 2017 was sanctioned by the EU in February 2022, and the person who then became beneficiary was sanctioned in April 2022.

German authorities treated the yacht as frozen as a result. Prosecutors warned that taking payment from the registered owner might need authorisation, so Lürssen held back from invoicing and stored and maintained the yacht at its own cost. According to Megayacht News, the ruling removes a principal legal barrier to the yard seeking reimbursement for those years of costs.

Lürssen had asked BAFA, Germany’s main licensing authority for sanctions, in July 2025 to confirm that it no longer had to keep Dilbar frozen. BAFA refused that September, saying only the sanctions enforcement body could decide, and the yard sued. The court found that none of the evidence before it, or from BAFA, definitively established the yacht’s ownership and control structure.

The government can still appeal the decision.