Alfa Nero removed from US sanctions list

Alfa Nero, courtesy of Merjin der Waard, SuperYachtTimes.

Superyacht Alfa Nero has been removed from the US sanctions list, allowing the government of Antigua and Barbuda to proceed with its plans to sell it at auction. Its removal comes after an agreement between the two governments for the Caribbean nation to sell the vessel.

In a statement, Ronald Sanders, Antigua’s and Barbuda’s ambassador to the US, who headed the initiative that led to Alfa Nero’s delisting, said that Alfa Nero is now lawfully owned by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, through the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority.

“The superyacht is no longer linked to the sanctioned Russian Oligarch, Anrey Guryev, and his family, and, therefore it is not regarded as ‘blocked property’,” said Sanders. “US persons are permitted to engage in any lawful transactions, regarding the Alfa Nero, and the government of Antigua and Barbuda can proceed with an auction to sell the vessel.”

The government can now sell the vessel free of restraints previously imposed by the US. Until now, prospective buyers had to receive a special licence from the US to proceed with the sale. With the vessel now officially removed from the sanctions list, this is no longer the case.

The only prohibition on the Antigua and Barbuda government is that it cannot deal with any individual or entity that is sanctioned by the US. Sanders said that the new development is a testament to the Antigua and Barbuda government’s hard work.

“This process usually takes years. When we first decided that we were going to try to get this vessel deleted and get a licence to conduct the auction to sell it, there was great speculation in the Antigua and in the media that we would fail to do so,” said Sanders.

“The proof of the pudding is always in the eating, and now we are eating the pudding.”

The sale of the 270ft (82m) Oceanco superyacht is expected to close in the next few months.

Earlier this year, the government of Antigua and Barbuda passed a law to enable it to seize and sell the yacht, with the proceeds going to the state.

The vessel was abandoned by its owner in Falmouth Harbour, West Indies for more than a year. Believed to belong to a sanctioned Russian oligarch, Andrey Guryev, Alfa Nero was put up for judicial auction.

Ambassador Lionel Hurst, chief of staff, Government of Antigua and Barbuda told Superyacht Investor that the government has received “serious offers” of more than $50m for the vessel.