Alfa Nero Crew Awarded Unpaid Wages from Antigua High Court

Nautilus International has secured a judgment from the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda to pay the crew of M/Y Alfa Nero more than a year of unpaid wages.

“This judgment is a massive win for us and the Alfa Nero crew, and it was the result of months of hard work. It is an outcome we are immensely proud of, and one we aim to replicate for those in need in the future,” said Charles Boyle, director of legal services at Nautilus.

“Although some crew may be slightly disappointed as they wanted to be successful on all aspects of the claims, securing payment for over a year’s worth of wages for our members is an amazing result. This is especially true given the context of the Russian sanctions, which has been a completely new legal territory for everyone.”

On March 11, 2022, M/Y Alfa Nero was docked at the Antigua Yacht Club Marina in Antigua, where it had been since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The vessel was registered to the Flying Dutchman Overseas Ltd. and was reportedly owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev.

According to court documents, Burgess terminated the Alfa Nero crew on March 10, 2022, and on Aug. 2, 2022, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned the vessel. On March 21, 2023, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda declared the yacht abandoned and officially seized the vessel on April 11, 2023. Following the vessel seizure, they “de-listed” it as a sanctioned vessel to be able to sell the yacht. The government also engaged a new management company to staff the vessel.

Nautilus arrested the yacht on March 17, 2023, on behalf of the original crewmembers, plus those who continued aboard and those hired as part of a skeleton crew between March 2022 and April 2023. The maritime lien sought the sale of the vessel to pay €2,242,991.62 with interest at the rate of 4% on the unpaid crew wages. A second claim was filed by the non-union crew on Oct. 14, 2023, for €439,494.40, plus costs and interest. These claims were eventually consolidated.

Now, the crew will receive pay at the rates originally agreed in their contracts, but there is no set time for these payments as the money would usually be funded through the vessel’s sale. Currently, Alfa Nero remains unsold after an auction was complicated by a claim from Guryev’s daughter. Regardless of the seizure and sale’s legalities, the judgment ensures the crew will be paid.

Triton previously covered the Russian sanctions and their effect on crew. Read more here.