The War on Boats is quite deliberate and was thoroughly planned. Like the war in Ukraine, the war on boats would have to have been studied and planned for years by the US government (much longer than Creepy Joe's administration). And this was certainly being planned long before the 100 days or so since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of Russians have since been sanctioned by the United States. As far as the yachts go, the first thing to consider is the number that have already been seized (at least 12 far, with estimated values of $50 million to $750 million EACH). It's part of an operation called "KleptoCapture," and involves a task force focused on those who violate sanctions and the seizing of their assets. And it's not just boats.
To seize these expensive yachts requires surveillance, tracking their whereabouts, their crew, their passengers, their "cargo" and other activities, which has all probably been going on for years. In some cases, defining their true ownership may have taken some effort. Here is a case in point–the 348-foot superyacht, "Amadea."
US law enforcement agencies sailed the Amadea out of Fiji yesterday, after a ruling by the country's Supreme Court. During the court proceedings, it was argued that the Amadea was owned by Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oil executive who has not been sanctioned by the U.S., and therefore, the US government had no claim to seize the yacht.
However, the US lawyers responded: "Khudainatov is a second-tier oligarch (at best) who would not have anywhere near the resources to purchase and maintain more than $1 billion worth of luxury yachts," an FBI agent wrote in the warrant application, after noting that Khudainatov is not included on Forbes' billionaires list.
The Justice Department says the $300 million Amadea's true owner is Suleiman Kerimov, a sanctioned billionaire oligarch who made his money in gold mining. The court accepted the validity of the US warrant and agreed that issues concerning money laundering and ownership need to be decided in the court of original jurisdiction, in this case, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The crew, whose pay had already been frozen due to sanctions, were "refusing to sail on the Amadea with the U.S. authorities to an unknown destination," the captain wrote in his affidavit. He added that they feared cooperating with the U.S., in breach of their contracts with the ship's owner, would damage their reputations in the yachting industry. By the end of May, contractors for the U.S. had hired a new crew of 24, led by a captain who had previously been at the helm of the Amadea.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-superyacht-amadea-fbi-seizure-fiji/
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/business/russian-oligarchs-yachts-real-estate-seizures/