By Aabigayle McIntosh

The Manager of the Antigua Port Authority is clarifying why the Alfa Nero Super Yacht was moved from where it was moored at the Falmouth Harbour for a brief period on Thursday.

Port manager Darwin Telemaque told State TV this was a test to ensure a recently installed part was working properly.

“We want to make it very clear categorically that all they did today was check to see if that part was working it did so, they ran into some additional problems while they were out, but they were able to overcome that and bring the ship back to where it is now berthed safely at the Antigua Yacht Club in Falmouth Harbor,” Telemaque said.

There was speculation in some quarters of the public that the luxury vessel was being moved due to the impending threat of Hurricane Lee which is predicted to pass north of Leeward Islands.

Telemaque said, “There may have been some misunderstanding or some inferences which have been withdrawn to the extent that may have created some issue. There seems to have been quite a crescendo of interest that caused all sorts of things I believe that was regrettable and the facts are very straightforward.

“The vessel went out, we tested the part that was installed, and it came back and was placed similar to the place where it was”. The vessel has been docked in Antiguan waters for over a year.

On April 11, the 267ft vessel became government property, currently, the government pays US$28,000 per week to cover expenses related to the vessel, including fuel and crew member salaries.

Since the government’s acquisition of the superyacht, a number of legal challenges seeking to prevent the vessel’s sale have been undertaken by Yulia Guryeva-Motlokhov who claims to be the vessel’s rightful owner.

Recently the vessel was auctioned to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt whose
(US$67.6 million) was the highest. Schmidt’s interest appears to have dwindled due to the legal issues surrounding the sale and ownership of the vessel.

The government announced last week they will now be looking to engage in talks with the second-highest bidder who, in the June 16 auction of the vessel, put forward a US$66 million bid.