Dutch prosecutors have fined the makers of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’s superyacht for its use of dubious Myanmar teak, in the latest instance of authorities cracking down on “blood timber” from the Southeast Asian country.

Yacht builder Oceanco will pay a 150,000 euro ($159,000) fine under a settlement reached with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service on Nov. 26 for failing to investigate the source of the wood used on the Koru, Bezos’s 417 feet (127-meter) superyacht. 

Mongabay previously reported that Myanmar or Burmese teak is in high demand for luxury yachts because of its superior quality and water resistance. However, the EU has imposed sanctions against the so-called “blood teak” or “blood timber” since its trade, mostly illegal, reportedly funds Myanmar’s military junta. The Koru case comes as a U.K. court fined another luxury yacht maker, Sunseeker, for using Burmese teak.

“Finally, the law is being implemented and, once again, this is a warning to those who think they can continue to buy blood teak from Myanmar without consequences,” Faith Doherty, forests campaign leader at the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency, said in a statement.

Dutch prosecutors found Oceanco had used Myanmar teak for furniture and wood furnishings on the $500 million Koru. While it had purchased the teak from a Turkish company, Oceanco was held liable since it had brought the wood into the EU market without investigating its origin. This violated the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which came into effect in 2013. The EUTR will be replaced by the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which has been delayed by a year and will cover commodities beyond timber linked to deforestation.

Oceanco told Mongabay in an email that it acknowledges the conclusion of the recent investigation. “Oceanco deeply regrets these oversights and reiterates that it has never intended to violate EUTR regulations,” the company said. It added it decided to stop using Myanmar teak starting 2019; the Koru was commissioned in 2018 and delivered to Bezos in 2022, according to industry publication SuperYacht Times.  

“The prosecution of Oceanco is another positive sign that governments are finally cracking down on the import of blood teak from Myanmar,” Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for advocacy group Justice for Myanmar, told Mongabay, adding that EU members must “do far more to enforce the EUTR and Myanmar sanctions.”

Maung called the EU a “key destination in the illicit trade of Myanmar teak and other natural resources that finances the brutal junta and destroys the environment.” He added that some EU companies “have supplied military equipment to Myanmar in breach of sanctions, even after the military’s illegal coup attempt.”

Dutch authorities also found the Koru’s deck built with teak from Myanmar, but said liability for that lies with the German timber trader that brought it into the EU. This information has been shared with German authorities, it added.

Banner image of Koru superyacht by Conmat13 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).