''La Sultana'' is a yacht that has been refitted from a Soviet era ferry. She was launched in 1962, under the name ''Aji-Petri'' and was the fifth in a series of 12 ships that were originally built for the Russian fleet. Her purpose was to transport freight and passengers between the ports of Odessa,

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...

Sebastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

and

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

between the

Azov Azov (russian: Азов), previously known as Azak, is a town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name from the town. Population: History Early settlements in the vicinity The mout ...

and

Black sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

s.Alupka Class Vessels
The Soviet Fleet. 24 December 2015. During the Cold War, the ship was believed to be used as a Soviet spy vessel. During the refitting process several spying instruments were discovered, including a radioactivity detector and thick aluminum insulation across the entire boat.

History

Built in 1962 for shipping and transportation services the boat was originally named ''Aji-Petri''. She could carry 102 passengers in cabins, with 110 more passengers on the deck and 46 crew members on board. In 1970, during Cold War tensions, the family of ships gradually stopped ferrying passengers in the Black Sea in order to be re-fitted for strategic purposes by the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The ship was eventually sent to the North Atlantic and used for unofficial

spying Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining Secrecy, secret or Confidentiality, confidential information (Intelligence assessment, intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the Consent ...

on the United States and United Kingdom by the International Organisation of Telecommunications.Take a Tour of La Sultana, the Soviet Spy Superyacht
Esquire Magazine. Jill Krasny. 19 August 2015. 24 December 2015. At the conclusion of the Cold War she was returned to a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n shipping company and resumed her transportation and shipping role.La Sultana Superyacht: The Spy Ship You Can Sunbathe On
Billionaire. 14 September 2015. Tara Loader Wilkinson. 24 December 2015. In 2007, she was acquired by the La Sultana Group to be re-fitted as a luxury yacht.Soviet Cold War Ship Transformed into Luxury Charter Boat
Yacht and Boating World. 25 June 2015. Isobel Smith. 24 December 2015. After undergoing a seven-year refitting, including being stripped from top to bottom,La Sultana
Camper and Nicholsons. 24 December. the bow has been raised to create a shielded ipe wood deck. The yacht houses seven cabins on six floors. Part of the re-fitting included upgrading to a diesel Mitsubishi engine that is used to drive the original propeller. Although it no longer serves as the engine telegraph, the Bulgarian language

engine order telegraph An engine order telegraph or E.O.T., also referred to as a Chadburn, is a communications device used on a ship (or submarine) for the pilot on the bridge to order engineers in the engine room to power the vessel at a certain desired speed. C ...

is still prominently displayed while the original push button steering controls are still used.Go Inside a Historic Soviet Spy Ship That Just Went on Sale for $25.5 million
Talia Avakian. Business Insider. 13 September 2015. 24 December 2015. La Sultana carries three tender boats, two Lancel boats and an XPro 490. In 2016, ''La Sultana'' was included in ''Refit'', a book published by

Boat International Media Boat International Media is a luxury lifestyle publishing company based in Wimbledon, London. The company publishes the magazines ''Boat International'', ''Boat International US'' Edition and ''Dockwalk''. It runs the websites ''boatinternational ...

, that highlights yacht refits, rebuilds and restorations.

References

{{reflist 1962 in the Soviet Union Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy Motor yachts 1962 ships