Yacht linked to Russian oligarch to be auctioned

According to Antigua and Barbuda, the ship, named Alfa Nero, was abandoned in an Antigua port last February and belongs to sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev.

He denies he owns the boat, so authorities have issued a public notice giving other potential owners 10 days to come forward. If nobody shows up, the auction begins.

The yacht is loaded with luxuries including a 39-foot infinity pool, hot tub, spa and helipad. And it was reportedly used frequently by Guryev’s family, The guard reported.

The auction is the natural result of the spate of impounded yachts following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last year, Gibraltar auctioned off Axioma, a $65 million yacht owned by Dmitry Pumpyansky, a sanctioned Russian steel billionaire.

That auction, officials said, drew “staggering interest” with more than 115 inquiries and 28 inspections by potential buyers. This yacht eventually received 63 bids and sold for $38 million.

Confiscated yachts owned by oligarchs have been in the news regularly for the past year. The US seized the $325 million Amadea in Fiji in June. That followed France’s seizure of a $120 million superyacht in March.

Antiguan officials say the auction of the Alfa Nero, which was originally bought in 2014 for $120 million (according to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control), is being conducted “to prevent any future danger, as the luxury ship will not is maintained by its owner”.