Following the government of Antigua and Barbuda’s announcement of intention to auction off 266ft (81.3m) ALFA NERO back in March, the government has announced the official selling off of the iconic Oceanco motor yacht. The previous owner, rumored to be Russian tycoon, Andrey Guryev, all but abandoned the yacht in February 2022 when the war in Ukraine broke out and the yacht has been tangled up in sanctions related disputes ever since, leaving her crew and fuel providers unpaid and in limbo for over a year.
The yacht was sold at a live-streamed auction for $67.6 million with former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, outbidding two other interested parties.
Port Authority manager, Darwin Telemacque shared, “We are grateful for where it ended up. It is above the forced sale price, which is something we hoped would have really happened and we are grateful….We are pleased we now have an owner for the [ALFA NERO] and the owner is tasked on taking on all of the responsibilities to get the vessel ready and moving. We do have a hurricane season in existence now and as such it is quite important that the vessel be removed from where it is at and on its way.”
