According to the Antigua Observer, a ruling on the seizure of the 82-meter motor yacht Alfa Nero is expected to be made by the Antiguan High Court in February 2025. The sale of Alfa Nero was challenged by Yulia Guryeva-Motlokhov and the yacht’s special purpose vehicle (SPV) Flying Dutchman Overseas, the British Virgin Island-registered company that owns the yacht.
Alfa Nero was seized in April 2023 after her owner, Russian businessman Andrey Guryev, abandoned the yacht in Falmouth Harbour in February 2022. Following the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the UK, EU, and U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia with the aim of pressuring individuals or entities to cease actions destabilizing Ukraine or threatening its territorial integrity.
The yacht was seized in 2022 in Falmouth Harbor, Antigua following the sanctioning of her owner, Andrey Guryev, by the U.S. government.
Following Alfa Nero’s seizure, the U.S. Treasury Department cleared the yacht for sale, nearly auctioning her off to Google CEO Eric Schmidt in June 2023 for $ 67.6 million. Plans to complete the sale were thwarted by Guryeva-Motlokhov, daughter of the Russian businessman, who claimed to be the proprietor of the yacht, thus precluding the Antiguan government from issuing a clear title when completing the transaction with Schmidt. Over one year later, with the court dismissing Guryeva’s appeal, Alfa Nero re-emerged on the market and a sale was completed by Northrop and Johnson to a new Turkish owner for $40 million.
Represented by attorney Dr. David Dorsett, the plaintiffs are challenging the Port Authority Act 2023, the legislation that was used to justify the sale of the vessel. The six-member legal team representing the Antiguan government responded, maintaining that the vessel was considered abandoned property after her owner neglected to claim her within the set timeframe. The Antiguan Observer reports that the vessel’s stationary state at Falmouth Harbour from April 2022 until it’s sale cost the government north of 1.7 million USD.
Alfa Nero is promoted to appear at the Antigua Charter Yacht Show from 4-9 December 2024 before cruising the Caribbean and the Bahamas in the new year.
