Coast Guard Busts Luxury Yacht for Repeat Violations of a COTP Order
A large, capacious yacht got swept up in a Coast Guard charter-vessel bust in Miami last weekend, adding to its curious legal history. The Round, a 98-foot Italian-made motor yacht, was boarded and allegedly found to be in violation of a Captain of the Port order, which the operator had allegedly violated once before earlier this year.
A vessel matching The Round's name, appearance and Miami home port is listed on a for-charter advertising site, Giggster, for a rate of $1,300 per hour. The exact nature of the alleged violation of the COTP order was not disclosed, but the Coast Guard issued 11 different citations in 13 different boardings over the course of Saturday and Sunday.
The service noted that the maximum penalty for willfully and knowingly violating a COTP order is a felony, punishable by up to $250,000 in fines or six years in prison. Civil penalties range northwards of $100,000 per day, plus additional penalties for other violations, like unlicensed passenger-for-hire operations.
"The Coast Guard will continue to maximize its collaboration with state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce all applicable laws on the waterways of South Florida," said Lt. Michelle Haksteen, Coast Guard Sector Miami investigating officer. "Charter vessel operators need to be mindful of the safety regulations before embarking passengers to prevent the risk of an accident, voyage terminations and civil penalties due to non-compliance with established laws."
The Round is a 160 gross ton Azimut 98 series yacht, delivered in 2005 and initially named Leonardo II. More than two dozen fiberglass hulls of this design were built; this one was transported from Italy to Florida in 2013 under the ownership of two Venezuelan nationals, Luis and Ignacio Oberto, according to the Miami Herald.
In 2020, the Obertos got into a legal dispute over the yacht's ownership with another party, the automotive repair firm Excellent Auto Group of Hialeah, Florida. According to the Obertos, Excellent Auto's owners had taken possession of The Round with falsified documents and removed it from its berth under cover of darkness. The auto shop's owners vigorously denied the claim and contested it in court, and the suit was swiftly dismissed on technical grounds. The current owner is not recorded in Coast Guard records.
The Coast Guard has boarded The Round five times since 2020, and officers terminated a voyage in 2021 for "unsafe conditions." The vessel was issued a Captain of the Port order on Oct. 25, 2023; violated that order on March 23, 2025; and violated it again last weekend, according to the Coast Guard.
Another vessel boarded last weekend, the Second Wind, had allegedly violated a COTP order three times this year, having previously been stopped on Feb. 22 and again on May 16.