Overdue Diligence

When German boat builders finally complete Sailing Yacht ‘A’ – the world’s largest ever – it will sail away with decks crafted from illegitimate teak sourced from Myanmar.

At nearly 150m long and 100m tall, the yacht is being built in Nobiskrug shipyard for Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko at a cost of £260 million.

But a two-month investigation identified a shipment of 1,278 pieces of teak costing €174,750 being used aboard the yacht – one of many shipments from Myanmar by Teak Solutions, imported in direct violation of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR).