Ships Fleeing The Red Sea Now Face Perilous African Weather
By Alex Longley and Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg) –Ships sailing around the southern tip of Africa are wrestling with a bout of bad weather that has already run one vessel aground and...
The superyacht Alfa Nero docked in Falmouth Harbour in Antigua, on April 20. Photo Credit:Bloomberg
By Stephanie Baker and Jim Wyss
(Bloomberg) –Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt bought the Alfa Nero superyacht that was ditched in Antigua in March 2022 after Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
The billionaire “won the auction this morning in a fully transparent process,” buying the vessel for $67.6 million, according to Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua’s ambassador to the US.
The 267-foot vessel, complete with a baby grand piano and a swimming pool that turns into a helipad, was abandoned in Antigua’s Falmouth Harbour after the US Treasury sanctioned Russian fertilizer billionaire Andrey Guryev. The department last year said he bought the Alfa Nero in 2014 for $120 million — which he denies.
Schmidt’s foundation didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Alfa Nero was auctioned Friday even after Guryev’s daughter filed a last-minute injunction claiming the yacht was hers, Antigua Port Manager Darwin Telemaque said in an interview.
Related Article: Abandoned Russian Superyacht To Be Auctioned After Sanctions Lifted
Some of the proceeds will cover maintenance and other bills that the Alfa Nero has piled up while in the harbor, with crew expenses alone running $112,000 a month. Telemaque said the sale price would cover “all liabilities.”
Since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the US and its allies have imposed sanctions on many of the country’s wealthiest people, causing more than two dozen superyachts worth about $4 billion to be frozen in ports around the world.
Schmidt, who served as Google’s chief executive for about a decade, has an estimated net worth of $25 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Two years ago he was named chair of the Broad Institute, a research organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
–With assistance from Devon Pendleton.
© 2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.
Join the 107,198 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
Sign UpMaritime and offshore news trusted by our 107,198 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up