Members of Nautilus International are to receive hundreds of thousands of pounds owed to them for work performed onboard the Russian-owned superyacht Alfa Nero.
This follows a court decision in Antigua on 11 December 2024 which has finally resulted in the transfer of £890,000 to the Union’s lawyers in Antigua. These monies will start to be distributed to members from today.
Nautilus has also put in an application to amend the court order for a further £331,000, which would ensure that some members receive an even larger payout, as it appears to the Union that the court has miscalculated their owed wages.
Allegedly owned by fertiliser billionaire Andrey Guryev, Alfa Nero was arrested by Nautilus in Antigua following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after the Union was contacted by crew who had not received owed wages.
An Antiguan High Court judgment in December 2023 established that crew would receive payment at the rates originally agreed upon in their contracts. However, the timing of the payment was not set in this judgment, because unpaid wages are usually funded through the sale of the vessel, which happened later.
Alfa Nero was finally sold to an undisclosed buyer for US$40 million in July 2024, opening the way for members to finally receive their unpaid wages.
Nautilus director of legal services Charles Boyle said: ‘This legal process has been long and gruelling, involving much cooperation with our yacht team. But the Union is here to ensure that our members receive the money they have worked hard to earn, and to which they are entitled – no matter how long it takes.
‘Although this is a welcome milestone in the Alfa Nero case, we appealed against some aspects of the judgment of December 2023 case, which ruled that double pay and some other entitlements were not recoverable. We are still awaiting a date for the appeal to be determined.
‘Unfortunately, unpaid wages remain a serious problem in this industry. We would encourage all yacht professionals to join Nautilus before experiencing an issue so that they have access to our full legal support.’
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