Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck appear to have previously sailed on a recently-seized $100 million super-yacht linked to a Russian arms tycoon

• Valerie, a $100 million super-yacht linked to a Russian arms tycoon, was seized by Spain on Monday.
• Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck appear to have sailed on Valerie in July 2021.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck appear to have previously sailed on a recently-seized $100 million super-yacht linked to a Russian arms tycoon.

Spain said Monday that it had seized the yacht, Valerie, in Barcelona, adding that it was owned by a prominent Russian oligarch. Reuters, citing two sources, later named the oligarch as Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, and a close ally and former KGB colleague of President Vladimir Putin.

Russian oligarchs and their luxury assets are a focus of Western sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February. Last week, President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address that the US would seize assets from Russian oligarchs, including yachts, apartments, and private jets.

Lopez and Affleck chartered Valerie last summer, the Daily Mail, Boat International, and other media reported at the time. The couple's vacation became the subject of tabloid fodder, with outlets noting how they seemed to be reproducing imagery from Lopez's 2002 video for "Jenny from the Block."

Photographs and a video posted by Lopez on her Instagram account in late July 2021 show her and Affleck aboard a yacht at sea. Features of the yacht seen in these images match those found in promotional pictures for Valerie.

The 85-meter (279-foot) Valerie is listed for sale with Dynamiq, a yacht brokerage, with a price tag of 89 million euros ($98 million). She was originally listed with Dynamiq for 120 million euros.

The listing on Dynamiq's website states: "In mint condition with just one owner since delivery and never chartered, Valerie was built by Lürssen in 2011 and underwent an extensive refit in 2019."

An article posted on Dynamiq's website dated July 15, 2021, said Valerie had been made available for charter for the first time, at a rate of 950,000 euros per week.

Lopez and Affleck appear to have used the yacht shortly after that date.

According to Dynamiq's listing, Valerie has a crew of 27 with space for 17 guests in nine "well-appointed" cabins, and an additional nursery and staff cabin on the upper and lower decks.

The listing states: "There is no shortage of on-board amenities, from a fully-equipped spa with hammam to the heli-deck and expansive private sundeck with a 6m swimming pool. Moreover, an elevator serves all deck levels with additional waterline guest boarding access on the port side.

It continues: "Lürssen's legendary build quality is evident in every element of Valerie's design. She is a pedigree product and a rare opportunity to acquire one of the most impressive and impeccably maintained superyachts on the market today without waiting years for a new construction."

According to an October 2021 report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, which was based on the Pandora Papers leaks of that year, Chemezov's stepdaughter Anastasia Ignatova owned Valerie through a British Virgin Islands company.

Spain's prime minister, upon announcing Monday that Valerie had been seized, said the yacht was worth 140 million euros.

In recent weeks, big yachts belonging to Russian billionaires have been seized by France and Italy.

Some oligarchs appear to be trying to evade sanctions by sending their yachts and jets to places like Dubai and the Maldives, which do not have extradition treaties with the US.