World's largest yacht - will it ever be finished?
by Lisa Mylchreest on 28 Jan 2009
Abramovich and yachts - but will there be more? SW
If you are feeling bad about your losses in the world's financial collapse, spare a tear for the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, that yacht owner extraodinaire who is currently building the World's Largest Yacht.
Abramovich is reputed to have lost $12 billion of his $15 billion fortune, raising the question of whether his newest yacht, cheekily called 'Eclipse', will ever be finished. (or will he merely sell the Chelsea Football Club?).
The new yacht is to be around 530ft long, around 50 per cent longer than a navy destroyer. The yacht is being constructed at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg and is due for delivery in about a year's time.
Eclipse is thought to have acquired its name because it is set to surpass anything in Abramovich's fleet and, some experts believe, anything currently afloat. It will have two, possibly three, helicopter pads and its own submarine housed in a special compartment from which it can be launched and recovered.
The yacht will also have a missile detection system and defences capable of seeing off even the most determined pirate. No one knows how much Eclipse is costing, but the figure of £200 million already quoted is thought to be far too low.
Abramovich seems to have a near compulsion for buying yachts. He already has Pelorus, one of the world's largest superyachts, and his fleet has included other multi-million pound vessels such as Sussurro and Ecstasea. He recently presented a previous yacht, Le Grand Bleu, to his right-hand man and old friend, Eugene Schvidler.
For those who want to see the World's Largest Yacht completed, it will be reassuring to know that Abramovich, along with a number of other Russian oligarchs, has an advantage not shared by all tycoons suffering from the global crunch. While many rich individuals have been forced to sell assets at a huge loss to prop up their businesses, Abramovich and others have been given a helping hand by the Russian government. The Kremlin has put $34 billion into Russia's banks and told them to keep businesses afloat. One bank, VTB, 75 per cent owned by the state, obliged by granting Abramovich's Evraz a $360 million one-year loan.
Another oligarch, Abramovich's friend Oleg Deripaska, also considered a friend of the Kremlin, has received $4.5 billion from another state-controlled bank, VEB.
Some Russians are not too happy about the bailouts. The Russian MP and investigative journalist Alexander Khinshtein said: 'What we have in reality is a strange situation where an oligarch comes to the state and says: 'Give me money because I can't pay salaries to my workers.' So the state gives him money and the oligarch continues his luxurious way of life, travelling abroad, buying yachts. One such oligarch is Roman Abramovich.'
So, even with the pitiful remnants of a fortune, with the remaining $3 billion, the yacht may still be finished. Watch this space!
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