Lawyer Sitpah Selvaratnam, who heads the legal team for the government and 1MDB, said this was the price set by UK-based independent marine surveyor Winterborthams in its evaluation of the vessel.

“Basically, we got an order from the court to proceed with the second phase of the sale, which is through private negotiations.

“We received bids in the first phase, but they were not acceptable,” she said after meeting High Court judicial commissioner Khatijah Idris today.

The legal team employed by the government for the Equanimity previously said that the yacht, once owned by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, would be sold to a new owner by March 31 next year.

The bidding process for the yacht was closed on Nov 28 after the court gave the green light for 1MDB and the government to sell it.

The bidding was held for a month from Oct 29. Sitpah had said there were offers from interested buyers from Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the US.

The 91.5m-long vessel is currently docked at the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Region 3 headquarters in Langkawi.

It was seized off the coast of Bali by Indonesian authorities in February at the request of US authorities as part of a probe into the theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB.

The Indonesian government handed over the vessel to Malaysia in August.

1MDB and the government obtained a court ruling that they were the rightful owners of the yacht as the registered owners did not turn up to contest the lawsuit.

The government said it had spent RM3.5 million to maintain the Equanimity since it arrived at Port Klang from Indonesia in August.