ST. JOHN’S, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government says it has sought the advice of a Senior Counsel regarding the multi-million dollar super yacht that has been moored in Falmouth Harbour for more than one year on the southern coast of the island.
A statement issued following the weekly Cabinet meeting noted that the Senior Counsel shared his views “by telephone, on the forced sale of the Alpha Nero, a very high-cost yacht.”
The statement said that ten days of publication in the newspapers, under Antigua and Barbuda law, is required for a Notice to be deemed served on the owner.
“The interest in the sale has already attracted several global media houses. No owner has stepped forward since the USA, and the UK have sanctioned the vessel. Discussions with US Government officials have taken place,” the statement added.
The yacht, which some international media said is valued at US$81 million, is owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev. He has been approved by western countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
The US government has said that Guryev, 62, who made a multi-billion dollar fortune from the Russian fertilizer company, PhosAgro, is the owner of Alfa Nero according to the US government, which imposed sanctions on him last year. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it had “identified Alpha Nero, a Cayman Islands flagged yacht that he reportedly bought for US$120m in 2014,
The yacht features a 12-meter infinity pool, a Jacuzzi, a spa, a beauty room, and a helipad.
Guryev, subjected to United Kingdom government sanctions in April 2022, denied being the owner.
Falmouth’s harbor is the third deepest natural harbor in the world. It measures up to 34 meters in depth.
“Our custom-built superyacht dock allows for big berths with a deep draft, meaning we are perfect up to 330 feet in length and 20 feet draft,” according to its website.
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