Russian SWIFT ban shouldn't stop superyacht crews from getting paid but the slightest fear of non-payment will drive them away, experts say

Russian billionaires have been targeted by Western countries for their support of Russia in the war in Ukraine, but their yacht crews could also suffer.

Russian billionaires are on the radar of world leaders due to their ties with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Questions have been raised as to whether the sanctions on Russia's financial system could affect the ability to pay staff.

Russia was kicked out of the SWIFT payments system. The action was taken by the US, EU, UK, Canada, and other Western allies.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication is a Belgian system that was launched in 1973. It is a neutral platform for banks to chat about financial transactions.

According to the head of product development at a New York-based company, Russia has a number of different routes they can use to navigate around the ban.

Benjamin Maltby, a partner at Keystone Law in the UK and an expert in yacht and luxury asset law, told Insider that it would be difficult for the individuals to pay crew members. They could use offshore companies to make payments. Crew members should be paid.

Banning SWIFT isn't as dramatic as it seems

It sounds good to be able to say that we've restricted communication with these banks via SWIFT but in reality, Russia has got a number of different mechanisms to get money out of the country.

The statement echoed the belief that cutting Russia off from the banking system wouldn't be a catastrophe, but would make bank communication more difficult.

In a follow-up interview on Thursday last week, Thomas confirmed that the ban is not as dramatic as people think.

It makes it easier to move money from one bank to another. Cross-border movements of money between banks are restricted by the international money transfer service, known as SWIFT.

Crew leaving yachts

Maintenance costs will fall on the owner if the asset is seized or arrested.

In the case of a superyacht being seized, the crew is worried about not being paid.

Malby said that if the crew is not paid, they will leave the ship. They may not want to work on the boats now, as they might think it's damaging to their long-term career prospects to be associated with individuals or their alleged yacht.

The Russian crew left the ship in Italy in order to make way for a British crew to take over.

Crew members have no reason to stay if they aren't getting paid.

Todd Roberts, president of Marine Boat Works in California, told Insider that crew pay is a top maintenance cost for superyachts.

Without crew, a yacht can quickly lose its value. The crew costs for a 150-foot yacht can be as high as $860,850 a year.

Michael Zlotowicz, the captain of New-York based motoryacht Justine, told Insider that crew on mega yachts are almost always employed by a crew staffing or yacht management firm.

He said that the crew members are likely to be paid for their time and not for their loyalty to the owner.

The crew are very short-lived. Zlotowicz said that people leave all the time for better opportunities or to avoid disputes.