Talk about a plot twist! What should have been a celebratory moment for the state of Antigua and Barbuda and quite possibly a legal precedent for other countries having to deal with the aftermath of the seizure of a luxury asset under current sanctions against Russian oligarchs is turning into a gloomy harbinger of things to come.
Earlier this month, the government of Antigua and Barbuda force-sold at auction the 2007 superyacht Alfa Nero, which had been arrested in a local marina for the last couple of years, and declared abandoned and a “hazard” one year later. Once estimated at well over $120 million, the iconic superyacht was eventually sold for just $40 million after two years of complete neglect and two other failed attempts to unload it.
That sounds like a very bad deal, but it was a winning one for the struggling state, which had been forced to cover the expenses for the superyacht all this time. And they were nothing to scoff at: an estimated $30,000 per week and with no prospect of getting the money in any other way than by unloading the asset itself.
And now for the bad news: the sale has triggered more lawsuits, which could ultimately spell serious trouble for the state. The new owner, described solely as a Turkish billionaire, has protection against future liabilities incurred from the sale, as part of the deal. Which leaves the state holding the proverbial hot potato.
Lawsuits flying
Superyacht ownership is a complicated, super-entangled affair, where the direct beneficiary, aka the de facto owner, is never the paper owner. It’s even more so in the case of vessels owned by Russian oligarchs, who go to extreme lengths to bury all connections under mountains of paperwork.
Nonetheless, the FBI established that Alfa Nero belonged to Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev, a known ally of President Putin.
Antigua and Barbuda arrested the superyacht when it sailed into Falmouth Harbor at the request of the FBI, but ultimately sold it after the management company abandoned it altogether, failing to pay salaries and regular maintenance, and it became a hazard when the hurricane season came along.
Before the state decided that the vessel had to go, Yulia Guryeva-Motlokhov, Guryev’s daughter, claimed ownership. She wasn’t on any sanctions list and, as such, the arrest of her asset was illegal. She’s been trying to get Alfa Nero out of Antigua for at least one year, and she believes the recent sale will help her at least get compensation for its loss.
According to local media, BVI-registered firm Flying Dutchman, which claims to be the registered owner of the superyacht, is also preparing to take legal action against the state over the recent sale. As David Dorsett, who represents Guryeva-Motlokhov, tells one outlet, the state is looking at lawsuits “flying left, right and center” over the recent auction.
There’s only one problem with this: the $40 million the government got for Alfa Nero is already gone. Confirming the transaction, Minister Maria Browne said that proceeds had already been used to settle the debt incurred by the superyacht, with the rest of the money going towards covering general government debt. Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Lionel Hurst called the lawsuits “frivolous.”
A superyacht icon is coming apart
Legal trouble aside, it doesn’t look like the sale solved the country’s biggest issue with it: the fact that it lies in the Falmouth marina, neglected and not cared for, and posing a danger now that another hurricane season is approaching. For the past two years, Alfa Nero has not received any kind of work because the crew left when management stopped paying salaries, and Antigua couldn’t afford to spend money on that as well.
That partly explains the huge drop in valuation and, ultimately, the low price it got at auction. There’d been talk before that there might be serious issues to fix with the superyacht and louder whispers about how the new owner was planning a full refit once the sale went through.
Fresh reports are saying things might be even worse. There is doubt the Alfa Nero is even seaworthy anymore. The superyacht is “thousands of miles past its due inspection,” too, as per the same report.
To us watching from a distance, the Alfa Nero is more than a cautionary tale – it’s almost a tragic “the fall and rise of” kind of story. Delivered by prestigious shipyard Oceanco and boasting several industry firsts at the time, including the first “statement pool” that can convert into a dancefloor or a helipad at the press of a button, it’s now an 82-meter (269-foot) decrepit deadweight.
Perhaps worse, through no fault of its own, it’s the kind of deadweight that only attracts more trouble and even disguises it as good news. Here’s the official handover ceremony from earlier in July 2024, which should have been the good news.
