Roman Abramovich’s $350M Yacht Launched

Eclipse, the world’s biggest private yacht everybody has been waiting for about two years, made its preliminary launch on June 12, at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. However, the yacht will undergo further construction before being delivered to its owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, later this year.

The yacht, with a value estimated at $350 million, was designed by Hermidas Atabeyki, while the interior represents the work of the well-known designer, Terrence Disdale.

The construction began two years ago and all the work was conducted secretly at the shipyard in Hamburg, which also produced the World War II battleship The Bismarck. Some features of the superyacht make it a real fortress against pirates, as it has a radar equipment to warn of incoming rockets, as well as bullet-proof windows and armor plating around the cabin.

The Eclipse is reported to have two helicopter pads, 20 water jets, several jacuzzis, a private yellow submarine, which can dive to 160ft below the water to escape in the event of an attack, a swimming pool with large Havana bars surrounding it, a cinema, library, restaurant, private garden and a 5,000 square feet master suite. All these should make the billionaire owner of the Chelsea Football Club feel like home and protected when on the yacht.

There were no details about this yacht’s measurements, so its 170-meter size is yet to be confirmed. This, however, will make it around eight meters larger than the UAE royal yacht DUBAI, now second in the world, as noted by i-newswire.com.

Abramovich, who owns four motor yachts at the moment (Pelorus, Sussurro, Ecstasea and Eclipse) has lost more than a half of his fortune in the past year. According to Forbes, that was due to the disastrous performance of Evraz, the second biggest steel company in Russia, in which Abramovich has a large stake.