By Jean-Baptiste Piggin Jun 16, 2009, 2:08 GMT
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/
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