Hamburg - The wraps are off the biggest luxury yacht on the
globe, the 525-foot-plus Eclipse, which is nearing completion in the
German port of Hamburg for a secret buyer thought to be Russian
billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Insiders in Hamburg and the trade magazine Power & Motoryacht have
scoffed at speculation in the tabloids that the boat has a missile
air-defence system and a submarine as a lifeboat.
But a Hamburg newspaper quoting people in the know in the port
claimed that the Eclipse does have an electronic jamming system to
thwart paparazzi.
Blohm & Voss Shipyards confirmed Monday the vessel was down the
slip and into the fitting stage, but would say nothing more about the
secret project with the hull number 978. The company website gives
only a length: greater than 160 metres.
That gives the owner ample room to party, frolic in the onboard
swimming pools and enjoy pampering by valets and other servants. A
helipad is standard on yachts this big. Sailing the vessel will be
the job of a full-time crew.
The hull and superstructure were built in a hangar-like covered
dock by workers sworn to secrecy.
The vessel came out into the daylight last Friday painted light
grey, which is thought to be an undercoat, to be overpainted later in
peppier colours for the client. Some scaffolding was still attached
to the superstructure.
The media were not invited to the quiet launch, which took place
between showers, in full view of people strolling along the
riverbank. Portable toilets for the workers to use were parked on the
aft deck, but will of course vanish when the boat is delivered.
A city newspaper, the Hamburger Abendblatt, said its bow thruster
was tested in the stream of the Elbe River and tugs then towed it to
a secluded dock for fitting out. It said the electronic counter-
measures on the boat were designed to jam digital cameras.
It evidently was not working Friday, when photographers managed
plenty of snaps as the yacht was tugged along the river.
The Eclipse, said to feature 24 luxury suites and room for a crew
of 70, would be the fourth super-yacht bought by the oligarch.
Earlier vessels in the so-called 'Abramovich navy' include the
Pelorus, the 115-metre mega-yacht he used as a base at the 2006
football World Cup in Germany, the Ecstasea, 86 metres, and the
Sussurro, a mere super-yacht at 49 metres.
News reports said the Eclipse was likely to be delivered next year
though there was speculation that it might not be Abramovich who
drives it away. Rumours have suggested he might have sold it or be
planning to sell it as his fortune shrinks in the recession.
Forbes magazine still ranks Abramovich, who owns a large stake in
the Evraz Group steelmaker and Chelsea football club, as Russia's
second-richest man. He reportedly ordered 'the world's largest yacht'
as a challenge to the ruler of Dubai.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum owns a near-new but little-
used, 162-metre vessel, named the Dubai. This implies the Eclipse
would have to nudge 163 metres to surpass the Dubai, but Blohm & Voss
refuses to elaborate on the limited data on its website.
The newspaper suggested the Eclipse cost 340 million euros (470
million dollars).
The secrecy over the Eclipse, which is bigger than many cruise
boats, is all part of the service from Blohm & Voss, which
specializes in top-of-the-range vessels for the super-rich.
The only other recent vessel it discloses anything about is 94-
metre hull number 971, which it said was ordered in 2006 for delivery
some time this year. It has been reported the buyer is Indian steel
baron Lakshmi Mittal.
The company, part of Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems said in 2006 it
had eight new yachts on its order books.
There is room for six hull numbers between 971 and 978. The Blohm
& Voss online tabulation of recent boats has five conspicuous blanks,
and nothing at all is known about those mystery vessels.
http://www.blohmvossyachts.com/
USA
Your Talkback on this Story