Alfa Nero Superyacht Crew Nets a Staggering Payout: A Long-Fought Legal Battle Culminates in £890,000 in Unpaid Wages

The once-bitten, twice-shy crew of the luxury superyacht Alfa Nero are, as of 9 January, 2025, exactly £890,000 wealthier. This staggering payday has been brought to fruition by virtue of dogged union representation, persisting through a labyrinthine legal battle. The process, described as long and gruelling by Charles Boyle, director of legal services at Nautilus International, tested the resolve of the crew who had not received the wages they had worked strenuously to earn. Their claim to settlement lay in Section 49(1) of the 2006 Merchant Shipping Act, which provides maritime lien rights, giving precedence to wages over other debts. The union’s unyielding pursuit of justice had its genesis in a discord over outstanding payments to the superyacht’s original crew, disagreements about abandonment, and disputes regarding skeleton crew replacements employed between March 2022 and April 2023. At the heart of the turmoil was a shockingly large sum of money – specifically, €2.2 million in unpaid wages, with a saucy 4 per cent interest rate. Parallel to the union’s action, non-unionised crew members trod their path through the courts seeking payment of €439,494.40, escalating the total sum sought to roughly €2.7 million. The ultimate realization of these recompenses was hinged upon the sale of the not-so-modest vessel; at a tidy sum of $40 million to an undisclosed buyer, the sails were finally set for the crew to recover their unpaid dues. An elegant dance around maritime law later, and the crew are turning their glasses to the wind in an overdue toast for their hard-earned remuneration. Moreover, Nautilus, representing the best interests of the unionized crew, has further teased the court order for a claiming of an additional £331,000, a substantial cherry on the union’s cake.