Vanuatu's deputy commissioner of marine affairs, Guy Benard, says he expects the government to be asked to pay compensation for detaining the Phocea super yacht since July.
Its release has now been ordered by the Supreme Court amid earlier claims by its owner that police committed piracy for holding it.
Mr Benard says he expects the Phocea to sail to either Thailand or Indonesia.
"It will cost huge money to the government of Vanuatu because I cannot see how they can escape. The problem in Vanuatu is that some civil servants, who are either incompetent or malicious, take the law into their hand."
Vanuatu's deputy commissioner of marine affairs, Guy Benard
