The Alfa Nero may have finally sailed into the arms of its new owner, but a masterpiece like the 267-footer is not easily forgotten or relinquished. Even after Oceanco’s $120 million+ crown jewel was sold to a secretive Turkish billionaire for a measly $40 million, two parties have challenged the sale, Yulia Guryeva-Motlokhov, the daughter of a sanctioned Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev, and Flying Dutchman Overseas Limited (a British Virgin Islands company that is registered as the owner of the yacht).
According to The Antigua Observer, a legal decision on the matter is expected in February 2025, addressing the constitutionality of the government’s actions in seizing and selling the Alfa Nero.
Reportedly, a legal team of eleven lawyers, including six representing the government, presented arguments during the hearing. Representing the oligarch’s daughter, attorney Dr. David Dorsett specifically challenged the Port Authority Amendment Act 2023, questioning the validity of the law that justified the sale and calling it unlawful. In defense, the government’s lawyers maintained that the yacht was classified as abandoned after its owner failed to claim it within the required timeframe.
To set the record straight, the Alfa Nero motoryacht was abandoned by Andrey Guryev, its alleged owner, in Falmouth Harbor way back in February 2022, where it remained until the government sprang into action to salvage the superyacht. During this period, the government footed a staggering $100,000 monthly maintenance bill while no one stepped forward to reclaim the vessel.
Eventually, the government took matters into its own hands, selling the ill-fated yacht for $40 million to a Turkish billionaire and using the proceeds to address public debts. Since then, the Alfa Nero has shed its “unfortunate” tag and the Antiguan shores. The magnificent vessel is now set to make a grand reappearance at the Antigua Charter Yacht Show, ready to cruise the Caribbean and the Bahamas before heading to the Mediterranean for the 2025 season.
For the oligarch’s daughter, the sale remains a bitter pill to swallow as she continues to fight its seizure in court. Meanwhile, several deep-pocketed billionaires and their entourages would be excited to revel in the yacht’s opulent Art Deco interiors, its infinity jet pool with a glass waterfall that transforms into a dance floor, all for an indulgent $812,500 per week.
