Abramovich to Complete World's Largest Yacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Apr 13th 2009 at 8:01AM

It seems that despite a disastrous economy in which he lost a reported $20 billion, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is pressing on with plans for the Eclipse (above), the $355 million megayacht which will be the world's biggest upon completion next year. The 555-ft. ship, which includes a military-grade missile defense system, armor plating and bullet-proof windows, will literally eclipse the recently-debuted $350 million, 531-ft. Dubai owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai.

There has been much speculation over whether Abramovich would shelve the Eclipse and / or sell off some of his other superyachts such as the 377-ft. Pelorus, but the Moscow Times reports he plans to keep them all. In fact, Abramovich is said to have already purchased a berth for the Eclipse at Porto Montenegro, the new megayacht marina under construction in the former communist country being billed as "the Monaco of the Balkans" (which we reported on last year).

Gallery: Abramovich's Megayachts