The foreign minister of Marshall Islands said on Friday that it is considering "expelling" any Russian yachts or boats from their ship registry, that have been targeted by Western-led sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Casten Nemra, the minister, whose country along with Panama and Liberia is popular for registering ships, told reporters on a trip to Taiwan that his Pacific Island nation strongly condemned the Russian invasion.

Marshall Islands, a close U.S. ally, is also one of the largest ship registry programmes for flagged ships throughout the global shipping industry.

Nemra said that they are looking into expelling any Russian ownership in terms of yachts or those that are listed and are on the sanction list. We will do our part in working, collaborating with several countries.

It was not immediately clear how many ships this could affect.

Western countries have been seizing luxury yachts linked to Russian oligarchs over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions have triggered an exodus of luxury yachts from Europe in recent weeks, with several heading towards the Maldives, which has no extradition treaty with the United States.
-Reuters