The abandoned superyacht of a russian oligarch may be put up for auction

The superyacht Alfa Nero will be put up for auction if no one claims ownership by March 31.

Since February 2022, the yacht has been moored in one of the marinas in Antigua and Barbuda. The country’s authorities have announced that they will put it up for auction if the ship’s owner does not appear.

Alfa Nero, valued at $81 million, is believed to be owned by internationally sanctioned Russian industrial tycoon Andrei Guryev. The oligarch’s lawyers claim that the ship does not belong to him, Bloomberg reports.

According to Guryev’s representative, he does not own a yacht, but “simply uses the vessel from time to time under a commercial charter since 2014.”

The head of the port where the yacht is located, Darwin Telemak, told the newspaper that the marina had been paying huge bills for electricity, fuel, and food for the crew of five for more than a year. The yacht’s maintenance bill has already exceeded $500,000.

In addition, an abandoned ship can create obstacles for traffic in the busiest port of Antigua.

“Our yachting industry is our biggest maritime revenue generator, even bigger than the cruise business,” Telemak said. “And we must do everything we can to protect it and not allow the vessel to become a burden on our country.”