Jobs, who died last year, never got to use the yacht – called Venus – but had commissioned the French designer to work on the vessel, which cost more than £80m to build.

A lawyer representing Starck's company, Ubik, said his client had received €6m out of a €9m commission for his work on the minimalist vessel and was seeking to recover the rest of what he was owed.

The yacht was impounded on Wednesday evening, the lawyer said, and will remain in the port of Amsterdam pending payment by lawyers representing Jobs's estate.