The Netherlands has seized 14 Russian-owned superyachts, frozen €516 million in assets and blocked €155 million in transactions as part of sanctions against Russia, said Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Wopke Hoekstra, CNN reported.

Hoekstra explained that 12 yachts are currently being built at five shipyards in the Netherlands for so-called Russian ultimate beneficial owners.

Although some of the owners do not appear on the European sanctions list, due to current export measures, these vessels cannot be delivered at the moment, he said, adding that the ownership structures of these yachts are under further consideration.

In addition to those 12, two yachts in maintenance at Dutch shipyards have been placed under stricter customs controls and one of these yachts is under investigation to be linked to a person on European sanctions lists.

Since the first sanctions, almost 30,000 containers in transit to Russia/Belarus have been stopped at the port of Rotterdam and have been investigated to determine whether they are subject to sanctions measures, he added.

Nearly 5,500 containers were detained on suspicion of storing luxury goods worth 300 euros per item.