In a recent public address aimed at ending ongoing speculation around the high-profile Alfa Nero superyacht dispute, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda has moved to set the record straight, confirming that a U.S. federal appeals court has already issued a ruling that upholds Antigua and Barbuda’s legal position in the case.
The Alfa Nero, a 269-foot luxury superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev, has been at the center of a tangled international legal battle since Antigua and Barbuda seized the vessel in 2022 and later auctioned it off to a private buyer to recoup unpaid docking and maintenance fees. The auction process drew international attention, and conflicting claims about the legal status of the sale and ownership of the yacht have circulated in global media in recent weeks, creating uncertainty around the outcome of the dispute.
Addressing these lingering ambiguities, Browne emphasized that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has formally rejected the challenges brought against Antigua and Barbuda’s actions, handing the Caribbean nation a clear legal victory. The prime minister noted that the ruling reinforces the legitimacy of the seizure and auction process that Antigua and Barbuda pursued after the yacht’s owner abandoned the vessel at the country’s Falmouth Harbor, leaving local authorities to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in ongoing upkeep costs.
Browne also pushed back against misinformation that has circulated about the case, stressing that the country followed all appropriate international legal protocols throughout the process. The ruling from the U.S. appeals court, he explained, removes a major layer of legal uncertainty for both the government of Antigua and Barbuda and the new private owner of the superyacht, closing one of the most contentious chapters in the recent international legal battle over assets linked to sanctioned Russian individuals.