SUPER YACHT DISPUTE

In June, an auctioneer’s hammer fell on a sanctioned Russian super yacht, which has been moored in an Antiguan port for more than a year and back then, Antiguan authorities had breathed a sigh of relief that a wealthy American businessman would soon sail it away.

But the 267-feet Alfa Nero remains in the Falmouth Habor in Antigua, bogged down by litigation as the daughter of Russian owner Andre Guryeva has stepped forward to join a lawsuit to prevent former Google CEO Eric Schmidt from taking possession of the vessel following his winning bid of $67.6 million back in mid June.

So the elation and celebrations that the cabinet of Prime Minister Gaston Browne felt when the auctioneer’s hammer fell on the sale have now been dimmed by a series of 11th hour filings by the Russian group, counter claims by government and others seeking to move the process along.

This week, government lawyers moved to file a cross appeal to prevent Yulia Guryeva-Motlokhov from being a part of the case on the grounds that she has no legal standing to be a part of the proceedings.

The Russians have been fighting to prevent the American businessman from taking possession of the vessel since the public auction was held. The Observer newspaper is reporting that attorneys will ask the court to determine whether a recent amendment to the port authority act to facilitate the sale, did not contradict a key part of the constitution regarding the sale of private property without adequate compensation.

Lawyers are also planning to argue that the port authority manager is not the holder of an auctioneer’s license and therefore he had illegally presided over the sale of the vessel to the former Google CEO.

These challenges and plans by the government to table a move in parliament this week to offer legal guarantees to Schmidt for any liabilities that may arise from the current string of litigations. This could further delay a resolution to the case, officials said. Schmidt has not said much since being declared as the winner of the auction for the yacht, complete with a helipad and dance floors.

PM Browne has complained bitterly about the $30,000 in weekly bills the government has to meet while the vessel and crew remain in the harbor. Up to recently, its sewage system had been malfunctioning, forcing some dumping into the harbor where other luxury vessels are moored.

The vessel had been sanctioned by the US and other western nations once Russia had invaded neighboring Ukraine early last year.