Abandoned Caribbean superyacht was burning $2,000 in fuel daily before being sold to a billionaire for a bargain price

Did you know there was an abandoned Caribbean superyacht that was burning $2,000 in gas every day before it was sold to a billionaire for a bargain?

The 267-foot Alfa Nero sat idle off Antigua with its air conditioning running nonstop, swallowing thousands of dollars in diesel every single day.

The Antiguan Government eventually had to step in after the superyacht was left behind and the bills kept piling up.

This decision set the stage for one of the most dramatic superyacht flips of the year.

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This abandoned Caribbean superyacht was burning so much fuel

There was nothing as truly spectacular as the superyacht Alfa Nero, launched in 2007 with some of the wildest features of its era

They included an infinity pool that transformed into a dance floor or a helipad at the push of a button.

But when its owner vanished from the picture, the massive vessel became a financial sinkhole.

The Caribbean island of Antigua, where it was moored, was forced to keep essential systems going to stop it from deteriorating in the heat.

Fuel costs alone totaled $2,000 per day, and that didn’t include docking, maintenance, or crew support needed to keep the yacht from falling apart.

By mid-2024, the situation reached a breaking point, and the government moved forward with a sale to cut its losses.

A billionaire snapped it up for a bargain

Turkish businessman Ali Riza Yildirim snapped up Alfa Nero for around $40 million, a fraction of what yachts of this scale typically go for.

He immediately had it rebuilt, and this included new technical upgrades, fresh interiors, and a full repaint.

The transformation was fast, shifting Alfa Nero from an abandoned vessel that nobody wanted to a newly polished superyacht, ready for charter, with weekly rates costing well into the high six figures.

Just months after the sale, the yacht returned to the market with a price tag of about $102 million, turning a neglected Caribbean yacht into one of the most impressive restoration projects ever.

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