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West hits Russian oligarchs where it hurts — their mega-yachts

By Megan Cerullo

March 7, 2022 / 1:55 PM EST / MoneyWatch

The U.S. and European Union are cracking down on sanctions against Russian billionaires by taking control of their mega yachts and other valuable assets, including villas and private jets, parked in territory over which their governments have jurisdiction. 

Italy on Friday said it seized a $70 million yacht moored in Liguria, Italy, belonging to Alexey Alexandrovits Mordaschov, a steel magnate with close ties to the Kremlin. 

"Italy's police has just seized 'Lady M Yacht' - a €65 million yacht belonging to Alexey Alexandrovits Mordaschov located in Imperia (Liguria) - in compliance with the recent EU sanctions," Ferdinando Giugliano, a media adviser to Italy's prime minister, said in a tweet.

Italy’s police has just seized “Lady M Yacht” - a €65m yacht belonging to Alexey Alexandrovits Mordaschov located in Imperia (Liguria) - in compliance with the recent EU sanctions. pic.twitter.com/8NzqkXH7lE — Ferdinando Giugliano (@FerdiGiugliano) March 4, 2022

On Saturday, Italy's tax police also froze "Lena," a $54 million yacht belonging to Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko, the founder of a Moscow, Russia-based private investment group and close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom the EU has sanctioned.

Assets that cannot be moved are even easier to take possession of, or prevent their owners from accessing. 

Italy also froze a $3.2 million property in Tuscany belonging to Oleg Savchenko, who is among the richest Russian business people. Giugliano tweeted an image of a Ministry of Economy and Finance vehicle in front of the estate, named "Villa Lazzareschi." 

Italy’s tax police also froze “Lena” - a €50m yacht belonging to Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko located in Sanremo (Liguria) - and “Villa Lazzareschi” - a €3m property belonging to Oleg Savchenko located in the province of Lucca (Tuscany). pic.twitter.com/yc1Q2y4d0G — Ferdinando Giugliano (@FerdiGiugliano) March 5, 2022

President Biden has also said the U.S. government is homing in on Russian oligarchs' super-yachts, private planes and other conspicuous symbols of their wealth as Russian President Vladimir Putin escalates his country's attack on Ukraine.  

A new federal task force, dubbed "KleptoCapture," will take aim at what Mr. Biden described in his State of the Union address on Tuesday as "the crimes of Russian oligarchs."  

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets," Mr. Biden said. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

More than a dozen Russian billionaires are under sanction by the U.S., European Union and the United Kingdom, and some are trying to dodge restrictions by moving assets that are mobile — including mega-yachts — into territories where sanctions don't apply and where their property cannot be seized or their assets frozen. 

The super-yacht "Graceful," believed to be owned by Vladimir Putin himself, left Germany two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine and recently docked in Kaliningrad, near Russia's nuclear weapons operations, data form MarineTraffic, a maritime tracking website, shows. 

Putin ally Roman Abramovich, who made his fortune in the energy business, is not currently on any government sanction lists, but is making moves to unload valuable assets, including Chelsea Football Club. Among those assets is a super-yacht named "Eclipse" that is the third largest pleasure vessel in the world, measuring more than 540 feet long and 72 feet wide, according to Marine Vessel Traffic, a website that tracks the location of ships and other vessels, including privately owned yachts. It recently set sail from St. Barts to Philipsburg, the capital of Sint Maarten — the Dutch side of the Caribbean island Saint Martin.

"Le Grand Bleu," owned by Russian oil titan Eugene Shvidler, is also anchored off the island of St. Martin, where EU sanctions can be enforced. 

Too big to hide

Some oligarchs on sanction lists, who are alleged to have built their wealth in Russia through political corruption, have already been cut off from their own valuable assets. 

The EU's sanctions on Russian oligarchs on Wednesday led to Germany's freezing of a yacht owned by Alisher Usmanov, one of the wealthiest Russians, according to a Forbes report . According to Marine Traffic, the 512-foot yacht, named "Dilbar," had been stationed in Hamburg, Germany, since October 29 for repairs. 

The French Ministry of Economy and Finance on Thursday said its customs agents seized the "Amore Vero" yacht belonging to a company owned by Igor Setchine, director of Russian oil company Rosneft. The yacht had been stationed for repairs in La Ciotat in Southern France's Cote d'Azur region. 

While the crew's intention was to "sail urgently, without having completed the planned work," it was seized before it could depart, the agency said. 

Fleeing hotspots

In hopes of avoiding the same fate, some yacht owners are "hightailing it on the high seas," financier and anti-corruption activist Bill Browder told CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge. 

They are mooring their mega-yachts, some with 100-member-crews, in places like Dubai and the Maldives — a nation of tiny islands in the Indian Ocean, which does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. "They're parking their assets where they cannot be seized," Browder told CBS MoneyWatch. 

The problem is that ships of this size can't stay indefinitely in a place like the Maldives, which can generate significant income through docking fees, given their need to refuel and stock provisions. 

"There are a number of these yachts in the Maldives, and unless those countries put sanctions in place they're probably safer there," Alasdair Milroy, a maritime accountant and owner of Breaking the Mould Accounting, told CBS MoneyWatch. "But you can only spend so long in someplace like the Maldives on a yacht of that size without needing provisions, or to refuel, so I don't know how well that will last for a longer period. I don't think they'll be able to do that for that long."

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who is in charge of the new U.S. task force targeting Russian oligarchs, issued a stark warning: "We will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds," she said in a statement.

Confiscating Russian oligarchs' wealth could be an effective tactic, Browder told CBS MoneyWatch. "It's hugely symbolic, and part of this thing is psychological war. This really has an impact — if not financially, then psychologically."

At least 10 of the 100 largest super-yachts in the world belong to Russian oligarchs, according to Marine Vessel Traffic .

Websites tracking maritime activity show that other oligarchs' yachts are on the move as their owners attempt to shield their assets from seizure. The "Galactica Super Nova," a 230-foot long, $80 million vessel owned by Vagit Alekperov, president of Russian oil company Lukoil, recently left its mooring in Barcelona, Spain, where EU sanctions apply, and set sail for Tivat, Montenegro, in the Balkans, according to VesselFinder.com.  

"Clio," a super-yacht owned by Russian industrialist Oleg Deripaska, is currently anchored off of the Maldives, according to MarineTraffic.com . A handful of other oligarch-owned mega-yachts are also moored in the Maldives, including Alexander Abramov's "Titan," Viktor Rashnikov's "Ocean Victory" and Vladimir Potanin's "Nirvana." 

How sanctions work

Placing an individual or their assets under official sanction does not give another government the legal authority to seize their assets — only to freeze or cut off their owner's access. 

"Generally speaking, sanctions are the authority that allow us to freeze assets. They are most easily understood in context of a bank account — it's literally put into a frozen account that still exists and collects interest and you own it, but you can't get any money from it," said Adam M. Smith, a partner at law firm Gibson Dunn. 

Tangible property must also be under the jurisdiction of the U.S. for any sanctions to work, or for the government to cut off their owner's ability to use an asset like a private yacht or jet. 

Daniel P. Ahn, a sanctions and economic warfare expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and former chief economist for the U.S. State Department, said that targeting an individual's yacht can limit its use even it isn't seized.

"If it arrives in the West, any port that can refuel is not allowed to do that anymore. So maybe the yacht itself doesn't get seized, but it's a lot less useful thing to have," he said. 

For this reason, sanctioned individuals may choose to try to sell assets like yachts at a loss, rather than risk losing use of them indefinitely. 

"If I was an oligarch, the first thing I would do is I would protest and say I shouldn't be blacklisted. Second would be to see if I can liquidate these assets and claw back something, knowing that otherwise it may rot at the pier without proper maintenance and the like," Ahn said.

As far as their impact goes, the sanctions are more than merely symbolic, he added. "The ultimate objective is to make life very difficult for these oligarchs, and it has been achieved," Ahn said. 

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.

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A 459-Foot Mystery in a Tuscan Port: Is It a Russian’s Superyacht?

As European authorities go after the luxury assets of oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin, a superyacht cloaked in secrecy has come under investigation.

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By Michael Forsythe Gaia Pianigiani and David D. Kirkpatrick

From Germany’s North Sea ports to the French Riviera, open season has been declared on superyachts. Across Europe, authorities are hunting down luxury vessels tied to Russian oligarchs in the effort to inflict pain on President Vladimir V. Putin’s allies.

In Marina di Carrara, a small Italian town on the Tuscan coast, one of the world’s biggest, newest and most expensive superyachts — called the Scheherazade — is under scrutiny by the Italian police. Almost as long as a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, it dominates the waterfront.

The yacht, estimated by the website SuperYachtFan to cost about $700 million, has two helicopter decks and is studded with satellite domes. Inside, photos supplied by a former crew member show, is a swimming pool with a retractable cover that converts to a dance floor. Then there’s the fully equipped gym and the gold-plated fixtures in the bathrooms.

In the rarefied world of the biggest superyachts ( only 14 that are at least 140 meters, or 459 feet long), the Scheherazade is alone in that no likely owner has been publicly identified. That has spurred speculation that it could be a Middle Eastern billionaire or a superconnected Russian — even Mr. Putin.

The ship’s captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, a British national, denied that Mr. Putin owned or had ever been on the yacht. “I have never seen him. I have never met him,” he said. He added, in a phone interview from the yacht, that its owner was not on any sanctions list. He did not rule out that the person could be Russian, but declined to say more about the owner’s identity, citing a “watertight nondisclosure agreement.”

Captain Bennett-Pearce said that Italian investigators had come aboard on Friday and examined some of the ship’s certification documents. “They are looking hard. They are looking at every aspect,” he said. “This isn’t the local coppers coming down, these are men in dark suits.” A person familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it, confirmed that the Italian financial police had opened an inquiry.

On Monday night, Captain Bennett-Pearce said he had “no choice” but to hand over documents revealing the owner’s identity to the Italian authorities. He said he would do so on Tuesday and had been told they would be handled with “confidentiality.”

“I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this will clear the vessel of all negative rumors and speculations,” he wrote in a message to a New York Times reporter.

The mystery about the ship’s owner arose because — even for the hyper-confidential world of superyachting — there is an unusual degree of secrecy surrounding this vessel. Not only do contractors and crew members sign nondisclosure agreements, as on many superyachts, but the ship also has a cover to hide its name plate. And when it first arrived at the port, workers erected a tall metallic barrier on the pier to partly obscure the yacht from onlookers. Some locals remarked that they had never seen anything like it for other boats.

In his State of the Union address last week, President Biden announced a Justice Department task force to go after oligarchs close to Mr. Putin and facing sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions have been imposed against hundreds of people, and the list keeps growing.

Last week, French authorities seized the yacht Amore Vero near Marseille as it was preparing to depart, claiming it was owned by a man on that list: Igor Sechin, the head of the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft. In Italy, police in Sanremo impounded Lena, a yacht belonging to Gennady Timchenko, a Putin friend who controls an oil exporting company. In nearby Imperia, police also impounded the Lady M, a yacht belonging to Alexei Mordashov, Russia’s richest man. The fate of the Dilbar, one of the world’s biggest yachts that the United States says belongs to the oligarch Alisher Usmanov, is unclear. It is in Hamburg, and German officials said the vessel could not leave without an export waiver, Bloomberg News reported .

Some of the biggest superyachts are owned by Russians who are not on the sanctions list. The world’s second-largest, Eclipse, which has a missile defense system and a mini submarine, is owned by Roman Abramovich, the billionaire who is selling his ownership stake in the British soccer club Chelsea. Andrey Melnichenko, a billionaire coal baron, owns Sailing Yacht A.

Determining the ownership of assets that the wealthy want to keep hidden is difficult, especially without a warrant, because they are often zealously guarded by private bankers and lawyers and tucked away in opaque shell companies in offshore secrecy havens. The Scheherazade is flagged in the Cayman Islands and its owner, Bielor Assets Ltd. , is registered in the Marshall Islands. The yacht’s management company, which Captain Bennett-Pearce says is also registered in the Cayman Islands, works from the ship and uses his rental villa in nearby Lucca as its address.

One trade website, which bills itself as “the global authority in superyachting,” claims that the vessel’s owner is “known to be a Middle Eastern billionaire.” The Scheherazade shares a name with the female storyteller in “The Arabian Nights,” and it made one brief foray into the Red Sea in September 2020, calling at the Egyptian port of Hurghada. But mostly it stays in Marina di Carrara, where it has been moored since last September.

Locals have their own theory about the ship’s ownership. Some have heard people onboard speaking Russian. And Scheherazade is also the title of a symphonic work by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

“Everybody calls it Putin’s yacht, but nobody knows whose it is,” said Ernesto Rossi, a retired clerk who was taking a walk along the marina’s promenade on Friday. “It’s a rumor that’s been going around for months.”

In Italy, the phrase “Putin’s yacht” has become shorthand for a mysterious and ultra-luxurious ship. It’s also a joke among the dozens of crew members, Captain Bennett-Pearce said. “I’ve heard the same rumors.”

Another, smaller vessel, the Graceful, has long been tied to the Russian president and is known as “Putin’s yacht.” It was tracked leaving Germany for the Russian port of Kaliningrad just weeks before the invasion of Ukraine. (U.S. government officials point out that Mr. Putin owns little outright; many of the luxurious homes or ships he uses are owned by oligarchs.)

Mr. Putin appears to have a penchant for big pleasure boats. During his time as Russia’s leader, he’s been photographed on yachts from Russia’s northern reaches to the Black Sea in the south. Last May, he and Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, took a cruise on a yacht at the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

The Scheherazade’s builder, Lurssen Group, whose website promises customers “complete confidentiality,” declined to comment about its ownership. Until June 2020, when the completed ship left the pier in Bremen, Germany, it had the code name “Lightning.” The same company built the even bigger superyacht the Dilbar. A similar gigantic yacht, code-named “Luminance,” is now being built at Lurssen, scheduled to be completed next year.

“Of course, all orders and projects of the Lurssen Group and its subsidiaries are treated in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations,” said Oliver Grun, a company spokesman.

About 70 percent of the Scheherazade’s crew is Russian, Captain Bennett-Pearce said. And during each of the past two summers, it has sailed to Sochi, the last time in early July 2021, according to MarineTraffic, a top maritime analytics provider. The ship’s construction was managed by Imperial Yachts, a company in Monaco that, Reuters reported , manages the Amore Vero, Mr. Sechin’s seized yacht. Nick Flashman, who oversees construction of large vessels at Imperial Yachts, declined to comment.

One former crew member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nondisclosure agreement, said that shipmates called it “Putin’s yacht.” The person said the ship was manned by an international crew during “boss off” times; when it was “boss on,” the crew was replaced by an all-Russian staff. In the weeks before the Scheherazade’s 2020 trip to the Black Sea, the foreign crew was dismissed, the person said.

The former crew member supplied photos of rosters of both international and Russian crew members. The Times reached out, via social media, phone or email, to at least 17 of them. Few responded.

One of the Russians said only that he had worked on the Scheherazade, citing a nondisclosure agreement. Another person said it would be dangerous to talk. One man denied serving on the vessel; another said he hadn’t worked at sea in 25 years.

Captain Bennett-Pearce said “categorically there is not a European crew that comes on and a Russian crew that comes on.” Many of the ship’s senior officers are from Britain, New Zealand and Spain. Many international crew members were dismissed in 2020, replaced by Russians who didn’t demand the high salaries and benefits that their predecessors had, the captain said. “It came down to economics,” he said.

Given the antipathy that people outside of Russia have toward Mr. Putin, if the Russian president really were the owner or principal user of the yacht, keeping non-Russian senior crew members like him on staff would make no sense, Captain Bennett-Pearce said.

“If there’s a European crew onboard it’s the biggest smoke and mirror and the biggest risk I’ve ever heard of,” he said.

Reporting was contributed by Dmitriy Khavin , Christoph Koettl , Julian E. Barnes , Jason Horowitz , Rebecca R. Ruiz and Eric Schmitt .

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to the new task force announced by President Biden in his State of the Union address. He announced a Justice Department task force to pursue and seize the assets of oligarchs associated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, not a joint task force with partners in Europe, which was previously announced.

How we handle corrections

Michael Forsythe is a reporter on the investigations team. He was previously a correspondent in Hong Kong, covering the intersection of money and politics in China. He has also worked at Bloomberg News and is a United States Navy veteran. More about Michael Forsythe

Gaia Pianigiani is a reporter based in Italy for The New York Times.  More about Gaia Pianigiani

David D. Kirkpatrick is an investigative reporter based in New York and the author of “Into the Hands of the Soldiers: Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East.“ In 2020 he shared a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on covert Russian interference in other governments and as the Cairo bureau chief from 2011 to 2015 he led coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings. More about David D. Kirkpatrick

Photos show the luxury mega yachts that belong to Russian oligarchs — some of whom have hidden their ships as the UK ramps up sanctions.

• Sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs threaten their luxury assets — including their mega yachts.
• Many countries have implemented sanctions targeting Putin and Russian oligarchs following Russia's attack on Ukraine.
• Insider compiled a photo list of some of the luxury vessels.

Russian billionaires' assets — including their megayachts — are in danger of being seized as countries continue to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden announced that the US will make a substantial effort to seize Russian oligarchs' assets.

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets," Biden said in his State of The Union address on March 1. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

Since the US is not in "armed conflict" with Russia it may be legally tricky to seize assets like yachts, Insider reported . 

"The threshold for seizing assets under sanctions is that the US has to be in armed conflict with the owner of the assets," Brian O'Toole, an economic sanctions expert, tweeted last Friday. "The idea of turning Russian corruption into Ukrainian assistance is lovely but this idea is illegal, period."

It can also be difficult to find out who the owners of these yachts are.

Offshore companies typically own the luxury vessels, but enough "public speculation" pointing to a Russian oligarch as an owner is likely "sufficient for a seizure," Insider reported . 

Many of the oligarchs moved their yachts to places where they can't be seized, such as the Maldives, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

Insider has compiled a list of photos with mega yachts linked to Russian oligarchs.

Galactica Super Nova

Amid sanctions and seizures targeting Russian billionaires, Galactica Super Nova — said to be linked to the CEO of Russian oil firm Lukoil — is no longer detectable via ship tracker site MarineTraffic , The Daily Beast reported Thursday. 

The superyacht — whose owner is named Vagit Alekperov — had just been in Montenegro last week, Insider reported .

Alekperov is not currently the target of any sanctions. 

The yacht is almost 230 feet long and can hold up to 12 guests and 16 crew members, according to the ship maker Heesen Yachts .

The ship also has a helicopter pad that can turn into an outdoor movie theatre, also according to the ship maker.

The Amore Vero

France seized Amore Vero, a 281-foot megayacht linked to oligarch and politician Igor Sechin, on March 3.

The yacht, Amore Vero, is estimated to have a value of $120 million . It has a swimming pool that doubles as a helicopter pad and a private deck for its owner, according to Oceana , the ship maker.

Per The Wall Street Journal , officials believe that Amore Vero is "owned by a company whose majority shareholder was Mr. Sechin," though the outlet does not provide the name of the company.

Sechin is the CEO of Rosneft, Russia's oil giant, and a former deputy prime minister. A known Putin ally , he was sanctioned by both the EU and the US before France seized his yacht last week .

Sechin was one of seven oligarchs sanctioned by the UK on Thursday. 

People in Russia have referred to Sechin as "Darth Vader" and "the scariest man on Earth," according to The Guardian .

Alisher Usmanov has been sanctioned by the EU, the US, the UK, and Switzerland. His boat remains in Germany, but the country says it hasn't seized it.

Usmanov's Dilbar is "is the largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage," according to Lürssen , the German ship's maker.

It's 512-foot long and weighs 15,917 tons. The ship has been docked in Germany for months undergoing a "refitting," but last week Forbes reported that it was unable to leave the dock.

Germany, however, has denied that it formally seized Dilbar.

Forbes said that "the German federal customs agency is the 'responsible enforcement authority' and would have to issue an export waiver for the yacht to leave, and that 'no yacht leaves port that is not allowed to do so.'" 

Still, multiple outlets reported that Usmanov has fired the crew on the Dilbar.

The Uzbekistan-born oligarch is a supporter of Putin. 

"I am proud that I know Putin, and the fact that everybody does not like him is not Putin's problem," Usmanov told Forbes  in a 2010 interview. 

Suleyman Kerimov was sanctioned by the US, and his son, Said Kerimov, owns ICE. The superyacht is worth is an estimated $170 million.

The Kerimov family owns the majority of Polyus Gold, Russia's biggest gold producer .

ICE was dubbed "Superyacht of the Year" in 2006 at the World Super Yacht Awards, according to Boat International . It is approximately 300 feet and has its own resident helicopter, according to Club Yacht .

Quantum Blue

Sergey Galitsky's ship, Quantum Blue, has an estimated value of $250 million and is last known to be docked in Monaco.

Galitsky is the founder of one of Russia's largest supermarket chains, Magnit.

His name is not currently on the list of sanctioned Russian oligarchs,

Though he also is not the target of any current sanctions, Vladimir Potanin's superyacht, Nirvana, is one of at least four ships docked in the Maldives .

Potanin is the Former First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and was a longtime trustee for the Guggenheim museum before stepping down on March 2, according to The New York Times . 

Nirvana is not Potanin's only superyacht, he also owns another named Barbara, according to Fortune .

Alexander Abramov's Titan, Alexei Mordashovis' Nord, and Oleg Deripaska's Clio are also located in the Maldives.

At 533 feet long, Roman Abramovich's Eclipse was the largest yacht on the globe until 2013 when the 590-foot Azzam overthrew it. 

Abramovich, once Russia's richest man , is the departing owner of Chelsea FC soccer club. He was sanctioned by the UK on Thursday along with six other oligarchs, Insider reported .

The luxury boat has a host of amenities, including two helicopter pads, a missile detection system, and a swimming pool more than 50 feet long. It also has space for up to 36 guests and 70 crew members, according to Yacht Harbour .

Insider previously reported that it is currently docked in the Caribbean .

Another yacht named Solaris is linked to Abramovich. The vessel, worth approximately $600 million, left Spain Tuesday after having been under repair since late 2021, Insider reported.

Solaris is 460 feet and can host a total of 36 guests, according to SuperYachtFan .

Tango, owned by the US-sanctioned Viktor Vekselberg, is currently located in Palma, Spain.

Tango can host up to 14 people and is 254 feet long, won the 2012 World Superyacht Awards, and has an estimated worth of $120 million, according to SuperYachtFan .

Vekselberg is a Ukrainian-born businessman who owns Renova, a Russian conglomerate, according to The Guardian .

He was one of nearly two dozen Russian oligarchs and officials that the US sanctioned on Friday.

The US Treasury Department claims that he has close ties with Putin, and has announced that assets such as his $90 million jet and his superyacht Tango have been frozen, Insider reported .

Graceful, a yacht reported to belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin, left Germany just before his invasion of Ukraine, Insider reported in early February.

—Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) February 9, 2022

Graceful is 270 feet long and has a saloon, gym, spa, library, and an indoor pool nearly 50 feet long that doubles as a dance floor.

Scheherazade

A mystery yacht remains untouched as the owner remains a mystery.

The owner of the 459-foot Scheherazade is suspected to be a Russian billionaire, though the owner was never publically identified, The New York Times reported .

Many people believe it belongs to Vladimir Putin, nicknaming the vessel "Putin's Yacht."

SuperYachtFan estimates the ship's value sits at $700 million.

Stella Maris

Stella Maris is linked to oil and gas tycoon Rashid Sardarov. It was last seen in Nice, France, according to The Washington Post .

The luxury vessel is priced at $75 million, is 237 feet long, and can hold up to 14 guests, per SuperYachtFan .

Sardarov is not being sanctioned. 

Sailing Yacht A

Sailing Yacht A is believed to belong to Andrey Melnichenko. The boat was seized by Spanish officials Saturday, Reuters reported .

The ship is more than 465 feet long and can hold up to 20 guests, according to SuperYachtFan . The website says that Sailing Yacht A also features an underwater observation area and has a value of more than $500 million.

Melnichenko is an EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire who works in coal and fertilizers, according to Forbes . The magazine also reported that he owns a second yacht, Motor Yacht A, which is similar to a submarine. 

Oligarch Gennady Timchenko's superyacht "Lena" was seized in the port of Sanremo, Italy on March 5, Reuters reported.

Timchenko is the owner of a private investment group, Volga Group and a shareholder of Bank Rossiya. The oligarch has been sanctioned by the EU, which describes him as a "long-time acquaintance of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin."

Timchenko was also sanctioned by the UK on February 22. 

The superyacht is valued at around 50 million euros ($54 million), Reuters reported. It has fold-down terraces, as well as an "owner's suite" which opens out onto the sea with "gull-wing doors," according to its manufacturer, Sanlorenzo.

Italian authorities also seized a $71 million super-yacht belonging to one of the wealthiest men in Russia , Alexei Mordashov. 

The 215-ft "Lady M" superyacht was seized in the Port of Imperia, northern Italy, a source confirmed to Reuters.

The yacht can accommodate up to six guests on and also has accommodation for four crew members, per the Superyacht Times .

The oligarch, who is the chairman of steel mining company, Severstal, has also been sanctioned by the EU, which says Mordashov is "benefiting from his links with Russian decision-makers." Mordashov has insisted he has "absolutely nothing to do" with Russia's attack on Ukraine. 

The Oligarch moved $1.3 billion worth of shares in travel company, TUI, to an offshore tax haven on the day he was hit by sanctions, Insider's Huileng Tan previously reported. 

He was also added to the UK government's sanctions list on March 15.

Some superyachts belonging to Russian billionaires are currently seeking refuge in the Maldives, including a yacht owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, Reuters reported.

The billionaire, who is also the founder of one of Russia's largest industrial groups, Basic Element, was added to the UK's sanctions list on March 10.

Also built by Lürssen, the superyacht - which is around 238 feet long - can accommodate 18 guests in nine cabins, per Superyacht Fan.

The superyacht Valerie - worth $140 million - was seized in Barcelona on Monday, Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said on La Sexta television, per Reuters.  

Sanchez did not confirm the owner of the yacht, but two sources confirmed to Reuters that it belonged to Sergei Chemezov, who is said to be a close ally of Putin.

The oligarch, who was previously a KGB spy with Putin in the former Soviet Union, recently said that Russia would emerge victorious from Western sanctions, Reuters previously reported . 

Chemezov, who is the CEO of Russian defense conglomerate Rostec was added to the US sanctions list on March 3. 

His yacht is 279 feet long and can accommodate 17 guests in eight suites, per Superyacht Fan.

Crescent, most likely owned by Igor Sechin but also rumored to belong to Putin, was the third yacht Spain seized as the West ramps up sanctions, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The superyacht is 443-feet long and costs an estimated $600 million, according to  SuperyachtFan, which also says the vessel hosts a retractable helicopter hangar and a large pool with a glass bottom.

Lady Anastasia

Lady Anastasia is owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Mikheyev but was seized by Spain on Tuesday, according to Reuters . 

The boat is almost 160 feet long and can hold up to 10 guests, according to Yacht Harbour .

Mikheyev, who was sanctioned by the EU, is the head of a helicopters division under Rostec, New York Mag reported .

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ECLIPSE Yacht – Epic $600M Superyacht

The ECLIPSE yacht was once the largest yacht in the world at an impressive length of 162.5 metres (533 ft) but currently ranks in second place after AZZAM.

Though she is known as the billion-dollar yacht, it is estimated that her true value lies between US $500 – $700 million.

The vessel can host 36 guests and is even rumored to feature a state-of-the-art anti-paparazzi system to protect the privacy of those on board.

ECLIPSE yacht interior

The interior (and the exterior) was designed by Terence Disdale , who has become one of the top names in the industry despite having no formal design education.

ECLIPSE was his largest project to date, and he also worked on prominent vessels such as A+ and AL SALAMAH. The interior of ECLIPSE is classically designed in a style that is to be expected from one of the largest yachts in the world.

The upholstery and furniture follow a beige and crème color palette with wooden accents.

The yacht’s 18 cabins can welcome 36 guests as well as 70 crew members, which is an unusually large number even for a vessel of this size.

A large dance floor, several fireplaces, two swimming pools, and two helipads are also included onboard.

The ECLIPSE yacht interior is so large that there is even a cinema dedicated exclusively to crew members. In 2015 the interior of ECLIPSE was refitted by Blohm and Voss in Hamburg.

Specifications

The ECLIPSE yacht is the second-largest yacht in the world with a length of 162.5 meters (533 ft), a beam of 22 meters (72.2 ft), and a draft of 5.9 meters (19.4 ft).

She was built by the German shipyard Blohm & Voss and delivered to her owner in 2010.

Four MTU engines power ECLIPSE and allow her to reach top speeds of 25 knots, although her average cruising speed lies at 22 knots.

Her total volume lies at 13564 tons making her not only one of the longest but also the heaviest yachts in the world.

Like the interior of ECLIPSE, the interior was designed by Terence Disdale. According to rumors, Abramovich fitted her with an anti-paparazzi system that detects electronic light sensors from digital cameras.

However, there is no proof of this, although many newspapers report its existence.

On deck are several swimming pools and jacuzzis, and the aft of the vessel features a sizeable beach club. The yacht has a sleek design that attests to Terence Disdale’s classical style.

ECLIPSE came to fame as being the most expensive yacht ever built at the time for an approximate price of US $500 million.

She has seen further improvements since her purchase by Abramovich in 2010 and it is often widely reported that she is worth US $1.2 – $1.5 billion.

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Eclipse – The World’s Most Expensive Private Yacht

In the world of soccer, Roman Abramovich is a popular figure as he owns the leading English club, Chelsea. The Russian businessman helped the Blues become a big spender in the transfer market, bringing brilliant players like Arjen Robben, Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, etc. to offer the beautiful game to club supporters across the world.

In addition to the Chelsea football team, which is a beauty on soccer fields, Abramovich owns another marvel: a private yacht named Eclipse.

The 162.5m-long beauty Eclipse is the world’s second-largest and one of the most expensive superyachts. Its estimated cost is 590 million (€340 million), and its current owner has owned it since December 2010.

A synonym for luxury, this superyacht is best suited for all adventure and water sports activities and provides splendid trips to cultural and historical destinations.

Built by renowned German shipbuilder Blohm + Voss, the Eclipse was launched in June 2009 after five years of design, development, and testing. Before its final delivery, several sea trials were conducted starting in May 2009 at Kristiansand, Norway.

When delivered, Eclipse won the spot for the largest superyacht in the world, beating the 162m-long M/Y Dubai of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. Eclipse retained the title until the arrival of the 180m-long Azzam, UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s private yacht in 2013. Currently managed by Blue Ocean Yacht Management, Eclipse was selected as the Motor Yacht of the Year in 2011 at the World Superyacht Awards.

Specifications of Eclipse Yacht

As mentioned earlier, this tremendous superyacht measures 162.5m (533’1″ft) in length, 22.00m (72’2″ft) in width and 5.90m (19’4″ft) in the draft, offering a vast area for luxurious leisure activities. The Bermuda-flagged Lloyds Register class yacht has a Gross Tonnage of 13000 tonnes.

Eclipse is powered by a diesel-electric, dual propulsion system with four MTU 20V 1163 TB93 marine diesel engines, offering the latest propulsion technology for maximum speed performance. These engines power the rotating Azipod drives, giving the yacht a maximum speed of 25 knots and a cruise speed of 22. Featuring 1,000,000 litres of fuel tanks, Eclipse can travel up to 6,000 nautical miles at 21 knots before refuelling. The boat also can store about 150,000 litres of freshwater abroad.

Interior and Exterior Design

While Blohm + Voss provided the naval architecture, Terence Disdale Design carried out the superstructure design of the Eclipse. The UK-based award-winning firm was also responsible for interior design, deck layouts, and construction supervision.

Incidentally, the vessel’s construction was performed with great secrecy, and due to this reason, the project was named Project Luxury Yacht M 147 throughout the construction period. However, the details of the technical design and construction of the yacht have not been revealed to the public; the design and layout are available for people to marvel at.

Divided into nine decks, the top deck of Eclipse is taken up by the helicopters and garage. The swimming pool and sundeck go on level eight, while level seven features a pool, atrium and an open deck. The salon, main dining hall and a 40ft X 60ft full-beam loggia are located on the sixth level, and the fourth floor features the main entrance of the yacht. While the next level of the yacht divides the cabins and suites of the owner, guests and crew, the second deck of the vessel acts as a docking port for the submarine. Level one accommodates the engine room, machinery, and a small disco club.

The superyacht with a displacement steel hull has an aluminium superstructure, while its decks become magnificent, featuring teak woods. To offer a smooth cruising experience, the yacht features an ultra-modern stabilization system that minimises the roll motion effect and is equipped with ‘at anchor stabilisers’ to increase comfort when the boat is stationary. Featuring the Art Deco interior design, with an innovative, technology-rich environment and the use of soft metallic fabrics, Eclipse offers a splendid living experience for its owner. With diverse facilities across the decks, the yacht meets the optimum standard of offering a leisure time platform.

The entire yacht has been bejewelled with features to make it more luxurious. Spread across many decks, Eclipse facilities abroad include a gym, dance floor, underwater lights, beach club, wifi connection, beauty salon, tender, garage, deck jacuzzi, etc. Further, the Eclipse holds two helipads and a 16 m swimming pool that can be converted into a dance floor. This motor yacht can accommodate three helicopters, two on both helipads and the third one in a storage hangar below the foredeck. Moreover, Eclipse also flaunts internal lifts, six tenders and an exterior fireplace on-board. The boat also features a place for a three-person private submarine that can go up to a depth of 160ft.

Eclipse is also one of the most technologically advanced yachts around the world.  The boat boasts the latest technology safety features, including motion sensors, bulletproof glass and antiballistic missile defence.  In fact, each cabin in the yacht comes with a private 6ft home cinema screen, a Jacuzzi, a spa and specialized security systems. According to reports, Eclipse has an anti-paparazzi system that detects the use of digital cameras to click photographs of the boat. Using lasers, the system detects digital cameras and disrupts a potential picture of the yacht, as those infrared lights can make it unstable.

Accommodation

The yacht has 11 staterooms and suites, totalling 6000 square feet. With this facility, Eclipse can house 30 guests and a 92-member staff crew abroad. The master suite, located on level five of the yacht, is 5000 square feet alone. In addition, the boat also has a pilothouse on level seven.

With all these facilities incorporated, maintaining the Eclipse is not a less expensive matter. An annual expense of over $60 million is reportedly required to maintain this luxury boat. According to media reports, Abramovich charges its customers around £ 175,000 to rent the vessel for a day.

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About Author

Raunek Kantharia is a marine engineer turned maritime writer and entrepreneur. After a brief stint at the sea, he founded Marine Insight in 2010. Apart from managing Marine Insight, he also writes for a number of maritime magazines and websites.

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Step on board the 162.5m Eclipse - the second largest superyacht in the world

Designer Terry Disdale talks us through the four and a half years, nine decks and 162.5 metres of the world’s second largest superyacht.

Terry Disdale didn’t set out to design the biggest superyacht in the world. “No one ever said to me, ‘I want a 160 metre boat’,” he says over breakfast near his office in Richmond, London. “When the yacht was still on the drawing board, there was a rumour going round that someone was building an even bigger boat, and the owner was asked if he knew about it. He said he didn’t, and that he didn’t care. Breaking records was the farthest thing from his mind.”

What he did care about was helicopters – he wanted to carry more than one; and the pool – it had to be big. There were also some early discussions about low bulwarks and big windows, and that was the totality of the brief for what would become Eclipse . “To be given free rein is actually a dreadful thing,” says Disdale.  “I asked myself what I wanted: something timeless. How do you design something timeless that’s still going to look good and not be anaemic? It’s so easy to get carried away, but you’ve got to be able to look at it in 20 years and decide it still looks OK.” But that’s the trick, isn’t it? And the measure of a designer.

• The 25 largest yachts in the world

At least Disdale had some hooks on which to hang the design. “Part of what creates the yacht looking like that is you’ve got to land this huge helicopter on the front, so the superstructure is pushed back. The formation of the boat is built around helicopter usage. And we didn’t want the boat to look unbalanced when the helicopter is on the foredeck. Some boats have a foredeck that looks wrong whenever a helicopter sits there.”

The lines of the boat were dictated by another prerequisite: the two significant lifeboats demanded by Solas. The sheerline runs straight aft from the bow and steps up amidships, the high freeboard created giving visual support to the lifeboats. “If you’d had a different sheerline, the lifeboats wouldn’t have looked comfortable,” the designer says. This, plus the addition of a 15 metre pool aft on the main deck, meant that the overall length of Eclipse – 162.5 metres – was defined not by ego but by practicality.

“Everyone thinks that a boat starts with a sketch, some glamorous visual of the outside of the boat. But that’s not how things work in my office – we start with a plan, a general arrangement.” The project, from this first design stage to the boat’s launch at Blohm+Voss ’s Hamburg yard in 2009, took four and a half years – a remarkable achievement given the scale of the yacht, which was only overtaken as the world’s biggest in 2013 with the launch of 180 metre Azzam . 

Up to 20 engineers from Blue Ocean Yacht Management were present on site throughout the build, whipping it along to meet the aggressive delivery schedule. Disdale doesn’t recall any sleepless nights – “at least, no more than usual!” he laughs. The pressure of designing what was then the world’s top yacht – both inside and out – did obviously register, though. “It’s a huge responsibility building something of that magnitude, which is going to be under everyone’s magnifying glass. It’s not just ‘doing a job’, this thing is going to be scrutinised and analysed by everyone. There’s a responsibility to yourself as a designer.”

A decade from delivery, and more than 15 years from the moment Disdale first put pen to paper, he says he wouldn’t change a thing – and nor has the owner, who has kept Disdale’s designs largely unchanged. “For me, it’s more a clean piece of architecture than it is a piece of styling. The fact that you have a helipad on the front creates the superstructure to bow dimension, which is beautiful. If it wasn’t there, you wouldn’t have that length. And then when you get to the back of the boat, the swimming pool is dictating another piece of the story. I don’t know what I would change now. I don’t sit around saying, ‘I wish I did this or that’. Maybe I’d make the rear end look a bit more inviting, the way the staircases lead into the boat, but anti-piracy was a concern, plus there are a load of services and facilities back there. There’s a full-size pantry to serve the beach club, which very few boats have, and gull-wing doors with a pullout barbecue and pizza oven. There’s a lot you don’t see.”

Disdale’s long experience in the business means he is able to resist the temptation to force designs, or slavishly follow trends that flare and fade, leaving boats looking old before their time. “ Eclipse is a handsome boat, and it looks like a boat. It doesn’t make any pretence,” he says. “The key word is elegance. Very few boats can make that claim any more. Modern boats are purposeful, aggressive, macho, which has led to them all having snub noses. They look angry. You could paint them grey and stick a cannon on the front and it wouldn’t upset their stance at all. Eclipse is not like that.” It’s a familiar sermon from Disdale, who famously posts his 10 “design commandments” up round his office. “One of  the most important tools in your box is restraint. I can have complete freedom when designing a superstructure, but restraint is actually the most important thing – knowing when to stop gilding the lily. Don’t gild it! Use silver leaf.”

• Inside the Surrey home of legendary superyacht designer Terence Disdale  

The obvious benefit of a single designer being responsible for the interior and exterior of a yacht is a seamless flow between the two, and that is absolutely true of Eclipse , whose interior conforms to another one of Disdale’s mantras: “ beach house not penthouse ”. “If you’ve got a dining room with satin on the chairs and gold braid around them, but you live in a T-shirt and shorts, then you’re not comfortable,” he says. 

The pool is a vast entertaining space, with 3.2 metre overheads and a retracting glass sunroof. “The ambience of the pool is as important as how it looks. You’ve got to want to sit by it.” Or dance on it: the blue granite bottom of the pool rises up to sit flush with the deck. It can also be lowered a touch to create a paddling pool.

The interior of any boat should be about “pure relaxation”, says Disdale. “People are on vacation, people are chilled.” He relates one story of an Arab client in the 1980s, who he dissuaded from fitting gold taps to his superyacht. “I told him he already had a 65 metre on the quay – he had already made his statement. It was a process of trying to quieten his ostentation.” You get the feeling no such effort was needed with the owner of Eclipse . “He had already owned three yachts to our design, so consequently was very familiar with my way of working and the habitat I create.” It’s impossible to miss the very deliberate warmth of that habitat and a design miracle that, despite using broadly the same colour palette throughout, nowhere do you tire of the ochre-like shades. 

This uniformity wasn’t applied to the lobbies between decks: different artists were tasked with creating unique works to give each lobby a flavour, so there is no confusion about what deck you’re on – a problem when you have nine. One of these pieces is a wooden sculpture made up of seven pieces, the design for which was hand drawn by Disdale and sent to Japan for manufacture. It’s a stunning work and symptomatic of the detail shown throughout – even in more mundane pieces, like the sideboards in the cabins that were designed in Europe and crafted in Chile.

With no clear-cut brief on the yacht’s layout, Disdale was forced to second-guess, “but that’s my job”, he says. “You have to work out how people will move around the boat.” The benefit of an LOA like Eclipse ’s is the owner can swallow serious acreage without impacting the guest experience. It’s not about avoiding guests, but being able to operate independently of them.

It would be easy to mistake the guest suites for the owner’s own quarters, such is their footprint. There are 18 guest cabins in total, served by 100 crew. From the moment the guests arrive by chopper, mainly on the top helideck, they’re absorbed in the comfort of the boat and have access to the main stairwell and elevator. It’s a transition of which Disdale is particularly proud. “It came from understanding how a boat is used. When you get out of the helicopter, you’re blown to pieces, and then where do you go?” The answer is an intimate lounge, where you can freshen up before entering the interior proper. It also gives pilots somewhere to conduct safety briefings, he points out. Eclipse is able to travel with multiple helicopters on board because one can be housed in the forward hangar, one above it on the retractable platform and another on the sundeck.

At the other extremity of the boat, the convenience continues with a huge bathing platform and staircases that fold down into the water for easy boarding – even for those wearing full dive gear. The beach club wasn’t maxed out, with a comfortable lounge along the centreline preferred to a big open area that is harder to secure. Beyond, though, the lower deck opens up into a huge 77 square metre gym and spa area, complete with massage room, beauty salon, sauna, shower areas and the yacht’s second plunge pool. Visual interest is added by banks of portholes with views into the swimming pool, which dapple light across this whole space. Choosing somewhere to relax on deck is slightly harder – where do you start? The options are endless but special mention has to be made of the wood-burning fire pit on the upper deck – perfect for nights on deck under the stars.

Disdale and his team were present in June 2009 when the boat appeared from the giant drydock in Hamburg. No butterflies – he claims to have been pretty zen about seeing her free of scaffolding and plastic. “Although you design every part of it and you see it being built, nothing prepares you for the feeling you get when you actually see it in the flesh. The tug pulled it out and there was the thickness of a mattress between the wing stations and the shed walls. Literally – they tied mattresses to the stations. When it appeared I was gobsmacked.” As was the owner, pleasingly for the man who’d dedicated nearly five years to the project.

“It’s like cars,” explains the car fanatic. “I was talking about Lamborghinis the other day. They used to have the Miura, a beautiful car. But they replaced it with the Countach, which looks like it was carved from cheese. One is ageless and one looks stuck in time. Elegance is the most important thing. The Miura is elegant, the Jaguar E-Type is elegant.” He’s too modest to say but Eclipse belongs in that league – beautiful for ever.

First published in the April 2016 edition of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.

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Eclipse Yacht: The World’s Most Expensive Private Yacht ($1.5 Billion)

Eclipse Yacht Facts

Yacht Name: Eclipse Yacht Length: 162 m (533 ft) Guests: 36 in 18 cabins Crew: up to 96 Displacement: 13,564t Builder: Blohm & Voss Year:- 2010 Yacht Cost: US$ 590 million Yacht Current Value: USD $1.5 Billion Yacht Owner: Roman Abramovich

Some of the most expensive boats in the world are yachts . Yachts are a sign of extreme wealth and luxury. And the $1.5 Billion Eclipse is the best of the best! It is the most expensive private yacht in the world and owned by the super glamorous Russian billionaire businessman – Roman Abramovich.

This article discusses the world’s most expensive private yacht, who owns it, the luxuries that it holds, and how it functions.

Following are some interesting facts about the world’s most expensive private yacht ‘Eclipse’

What it is and who owns it.

Eclipse which has the full name of M/Y Eclipse is a luxury motor yacht. A Russian businessman named Roman Abramovich owns it. He is the 11th richest person in Russia and the 140th richest person in the world. He is best known as the owner of the Chelsea Football Club. Chelsea FC is a premier league football club which is famous all over the world.

Abramovich has a net worth of 11.5 billion dollars. What is not known that popularly about him is that he is the owner of the world’s most luxurious and expensive private yacht.

Eclipse was delivered to Abramovich in December of 2010. It was built in Germany by a Hamburg-based company called Blohm-Voss. Eclipse is the world’s most expensive yacht with an estimated cost of 340 million euros or 590 million dollars.

About the Yacht Eclipse

The yacht is a total of 162.5 m in length and 22 m in width. It has a draft of 5.90 m. This makes it the second-largest yacht in the world. It provides a lot of space for leisurely activities, is suitable for almost all adventure and water sports, and is also capable of offering trips to several cultural and historical destinations all over the world. It has several features.

It is interesting to know that the yacht eclipse also has two helicopter pads on it. There are 24 guest cabins, several hot tubs, a disco hall, and even two swimming pools. It also contains a gym, a dance floor, underwater lights, a Beach club, a beauty salon, a Wi-Fi connection, a tender garage, and a deck jacuzzi. The swimming pools on the yacht can be converted into a dance floor. Even though the yacht has two helicopter pads, it can accommodate three helicopters as it has one storage hanger below the foredeck. There is also an exterior fireplace on board the yacht.

Eclipse is also a very technologically advanced boat. It has the latest technology features like motion sensors, anti-ballistic missile defense, and bulletproof glass.

As stated, before it has 24 guest cabins. Each of these cabins has a private 6 feet home cinema screen, a spa, a jacuzzi, and specialized security systems. It is believed that the boat also has an anti-paparazzi system. The system can detect the use of digital cameras for taking pictures of the boat. It is capable of disrupting a potential photograph of the yacht using infrared lights with the help of lasers.

The yacht is also equipped with three launch boats. It also has a mini-submarine which can submerge up to 50 m or 160 feet underwater. The yacht requires about 70 crew members for its proper operation and to serve the guests.

The yacht is also equipped with a missile detection system for security.

It has also employed a rotor-based stabilization system. It works against roll motion at anchor and low cruise speeds. It is based on the Magnus effect. Eclipse is the largest vessel in the world to have employed such a system.

The yacht is a Bermuda Flagged, Lloyd Register class yacht. It has a gross tonnage of 13,000 tonnes. The yacht offers the latest technology for propulsion and maximum speed performance. It also has an installed diesel-electric dual propulsion system with four MTU 20V 1163 TB93 marine diesel engines.

Also read: The Mysteries Of The Bermuda Triangle

The yacht can attain a maximum speed of 25 knots and a cruise speed of up to 22 knots. It also can carry 1 million liters of fuel in tanks and can travel up to 6000 nautical miles at the rate of about 21 knots before it needs to be refueled. The boat can also store nearly one fifty thousand liters of fresh water on board.

The submarine of the yacht can accommodate up to three people and can go as deep as 160 feet underwater, as previously stated.

The boat has a total living area of 6000 square feet. There are 11 staterooms and suites on it. It can accommodate up to 30 guests and a crew of 96 staff members. Out of the 6000 square feet of area, the master suite alone is spread over 5000 square feet. On the seventh level of the boat, there is a pilothouse.

Being a boat with so many features, one can only imagine what the cost of the maintenance of it would be. As one would expect, the maintenance of the Eclipse is costly.

According to a report, the yacht requires more than 60 million dollars for maintenance every year. The per-day rent of the boat is around 175,000 pounds.

History of the Eclipse Yacht

As mentioned before the yacht is owned by Roman Abramovich, a Russian businessman. Eclipse was delivered to Abramovich in December of 2010. It was built in Germany by a Hamburg-based company called Blohm-Voss.

The yacht arrived for sea trials at Frederikshavn in Denmark in September 2009. The first-ever pictures of the boat were taken on 9 December 2010.

Terence Disdale Design carried out the superstructure design of the yacht. The same company was responsible for the interior designing of the yacht, layouts of the deck as well as supervision during its construction.

This yacht was constructed in great secrecy. At the time of construction, it was known as Project Luxury Yacht M 147 for the same reason. The details of the technical designs and construction of the boat have still not been revealed to the public. The only thing that is accessible to the public is the design layout.

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