In an audacious display of high-seas drama, Western sanctions have ensnared the floating palaces of Russian oligarchs, transforming them into costly white elephants for European states. Italy seized the world's largest sailing yacht, allegedly belonging to the Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko. A towering marvel at 143 meters in length, now moored off Trieste like a costly exhibit. Tax payers have to pay €800,000 per month for the maintenance!
In 2022, global attention was drawn to Russian-owned superyachts following the Ukraine conflict. The illustrious Alfa Nero, considered among the world's most opulent superyachts, is thought to be owned by Russian magnate Andrey Guryev, who faced sanctions from the U.S. The seized vessel's future is now intertwined in a legal conflict involving Guryev's offspring, the Antigua and Barbuda government, former Google head Eric Schmidt, and another bidder.
The former Google CEO Eric Schmidt acquired the Alfa Nero superyacht for $67.6 million. The yacht was owned by the Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev and was moored in the port of Falmouth on the south coast of the Caribbean island of Antigua since March 2023 in the wake of sanctions against Russia and its oligarchs. As the luxury ship became more and more of a financial burden and a security risk for the local authorities, she has now been auctioned off.